Found the Original Plans for My Childhood Home

While clearing my childhood home, I found the original location plan and house plan. Being over 50 years old, the plans were brittle already. I carefully scanned them and have been trying to stitch the huge paper together. 

It's an amazing find since I wasn't even born yet when the house was built. My Mom told me they originally did not plan to have a basement. It only happened because the architect, my Dad's brother - Tito Bert, told them that it would be very expensive to buy panambak to cover the area. It was cheaper to add windows and doors. That fact is still true until today*.

The plans were hand drawn. Nowadays, they are made with a computer application and printed. I've seen architects still hand draw initial plans and they just re-draw them when it's finalized and submitted to the building official. 

The colored adobe veneer

 I also found an old photo of the house when it was being built. It's the back side though. 

And here's a photo from the 90s. The newer ones I have doesn't really show the house because of the huge bougainvillea my Mom planted in front.

I'll probably find some older photos eventually. It's just fun to see the original plans of the house. One thing you should keep on hand also are the electrical and plumbing plans. 

*It will be almost x3 the cost to just add doors and windows to cover the basement.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made Another Cat Quilt

I finally finished the cat quilt I've been working on. It was inspired from Pinterest and I used scraps to put it together. Making it took longer than I expected because I embroidered some parts of it. I also asked for advice from Miggy to make sure the measurements were correct.

Here's how I made it:

And the end result:

 

Nonetheless, I enjoyed making it. I'll use it as part of my new sewing machine cover. I haven't made one in more than 5 years. I hope it will turn out cute :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organized My Basket of Thingamajigs

A neighbor pinged yesterday asking if we had a LAN to laptop cable. I have two areas where I keep my collection of cables, a drawer and a basket. The basket holds frequently used items like cables, adaptors and camera/phone stands. The drawer holds cables I don't use often. 

I must admit, I don't throw away working cables. I did that once and realized I made a mistake. I donated the cables for an old data storage drive. I hadn't transferred the data at that time. I ended up paying a lot to purchase a replacement cable. Gaaah. Since then I haven't thrown away anything unless it doesn't work anymore or definitely of no use. I'm also working on noting the use of each cable.

Anyway, I went through the two storage places, but I didn't have the item. He eventually pinged me and said they were able to purchase it. Since I saw the plight of my thingamajigs, I decided to organize the basket today. I used containers I originally bought for the fridge, but since it's too small I decided to repurpose it to organize my stuff. 

I kept cables in a separate bag (I'll go through it again later this week) and moved camera stuff in another case (donated by Sweetie). I categorized the other items into the following: adapters, chargers (plugs), phone stands, safety plugs, travel adapters and phone chargers (frequently used). I used to keep stuff in ziplocks, but it's harder to clean and tends to gather dust. The containers would be easier to wipe down. I'll add dessicant to make sure they are kept dry. 

I'm in my "organize" era and the funny thing is our architect noticed I've been moving things around, LOL.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made a Yoda-Inspired Coaster

Another sewing project inspired by cats and Pinterest! I finally finished the Yoda coaster I've been working on for two weeks now. I thought I could finish it in a day, but it took longer. I didn't expect that making a mini "Yoda" stuffed figure would be challenging. 

I finished my practice piece in 3 days. I had to adjust a few things since Miggy said the arms were too big and the Yoda head was too small. My mistake was using a Yoda keychain as a pattern. I made it a bit bigger and filled out the arms more. I must say, it's a very healthy Yoda, haha. 

I had to move the head also since it seemed awkward to put it on the side. Miggy said it worked for the cat sample because cats have four legs. Ahh, he made sense, so I decided to just put the head in the middle. The coaster though would only work for slimmer glasses (sorry na). 

Anyway, hard as it was to make, it turned out cute. It would be annoying to use for our small family room dining table, so I'll bust it out only when we use our "formal" dining table (the table we only use during Christmas and New Year, hahaha). 

Maybe I'll make a cat version, yes?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Work-in-Progress: Yoda Coaster

I saw a cute cat coaster project while doomscrooling. I wanted to do it, but I thought I'd make a Yoda inspired one.

Yoda because my Grogu fabric will just get dirty if used as a coaster and I don't think my green fabric won't match it. 

Anyway, I found a Yoda keychain which I could use as a pattern. I adjusted the size because the arms I made were too big.

It's harder than I thought, so it's still a work in progress 😁 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Demolition Day One

I was confined in the hospital when the workers moved in. We scrambled to empty the house before the move in day and I guess that made me so stressed out. We had to send Chris and Pops to the province and completely empty the house. 

Funnily, there was still one cabinet that was filled to the brim! Mama Lola's vintage mirror kept it inaccessible. My Mom had cleared out Mama Lola's stuff and in it were more craft materials! It took me another three months to sort it.

Anyway, I managed to get home before the crew started to demolish the house. They had to build their lodging and storage area first. Then they removed all the furniture we were keeping (the big ones we can no longer store in our current home). 

I shed some tears when I saw what they removed first - my parents cabinets. The same ones that were installed when the house was built back in 1969. The foreman commended how the house was built. He said it was built really well and they would probably have a hard time removing everything.

I had mixed feelings about seeing my childhood home demolished. It was taken apart slowly. My siblings knew how it looked while it was being built. I slowly saw the opposite. I only saw what was being done through photos and videos since I had the misfortune of falling down the stairs a week after I got home from the hospital. I'm a total klutz, so for safety, I've been banned from going to my childhood home. It's probably better that way since aside from being a klutz, I may be an emotional wreck. 

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Almost Done!

I like how I'm making this bag project. I've learned a lot in the past few years in making quilted bags. I make them sparingly, but I improve everytime I make one.

One huge difference I did was to use fusible interfacing. It makes my projects cleaner and it doesn't bulge as much when you combine it with batting. I've also learned to appreciate thinner batting! I used to think thicker batting is better! 

I've been so busy with other things, so this project has spilled over to this month! I can't wait to finish it and use it when we go out :)

I should be done soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Six Years Ago We Moved

Six years ago we moved to our last home in Singapore. Things were getting stricter back then and we got lucky because the lockdown happened right after we moved. 

I didn't know then that it would be our last stop in Singapore. It was a different experience since from our second floor apartment, we moved 20 floors up! 

It certainly helped to have a balcony. We got fresh air and managed to get some sun when we stepped out to hang laundry. It was a smaller space, but it was good to experience living on a higher floor. I don't think I'll experience it again.

The move was hard to do, but we managed to pull it off. We had to since our old apartment seriously needed attention and I felt I was getting sick in the place already. I would probably have gone crazy if we got stuck in the old apartment during the pandemic. 

Just a good memory to remember. There's always something exciting when you move to a new place.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Sunsetting My Childhood Home

I dreamt I was back in my childhood home last night. I remember every nook and cranny of it since I lived there for almost 35 years. 

Sunsetting the house was very hard. It took more than two years to clear it. Mom kept telling me before she passed that she wanted us back there. After several consultations with architects and engineers, we decided to demolish the house.

We learned a lot about sunsetting an old home. The house was 55 years old, as much as all the materials used when it was built was still solid, the wires were already tried and there were a lot of leaks. The roof also was leaking even though I had it fixed in early 2022.

It was a long process that involved a number of professionals. We worked with several architects, engineers and a decluttering coach. Sunsetting an old house is something that's not taught at school. It's a long process and you have to make sure you work with people you can trust.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Ikea Room?

Ikea is good at curating their products. They put on nice displays which give a good idea on what your home should look like. 

We haven't been to Ikea for over 15 months. It was on my bucket list last year. I wasn't able to check it off, so I scheduled a day to go.

We spent about 6 hours in Ikea. We first had brunch, but was disappointed since they didn't have meatballs. What I wanted to see were the room set-ups and how they mixed colors. 

I wish Ikea would make a family room display which includes display cabinets* for toy collections. They had a gaming bedroom set-up which I thought was cute, but it's not applicable for us.

It was a good trip, albeit tiring. It was good to see their rooms and themes.

*Their bigger display cabinets are so expensive though, so it's better to get from a specialty store (they are usually present at toy exhibits).

Love the Cool Weather

I wasn't planning to do a lot of stuff today since I wasn't feeling well yesterday. After I kept the fabric I used for my Christmas projects, I thought I'd do a quick round to water the plants.

The weather though was amazing. It was cool, so I decided to move a plant rack. The gumamela and bougainvillea plants I propagated need more sunlight. Sweetie saw me and helped me move more plants.

Ahh, it was so satisfying to organize the side garden. Sweetie helped me move select plants to a sunnier spot and I moved some under the bamboo to get more shade. I still need to re-pot most of them, but better placement would help keep the plants safe until I could get to them.

Happy Friday and happy weekend everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Homemade Baked Porkchops! Yum!

One of our all-time favorites is baking porkchop with whatever barbecue sauce we find from the grocery. We recently found a honey mustard BBQ sauce variant from SNR and had to try it. Making this is so easy, just marinate the meat with salt, black pepper, calamansi and the BBQ sauce for 30 minutes, then bake it. We ate this together with the homemade atsara. It was so good!

Here's how we made it:

Try it soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home Goals

On Mondays I usually write about home improvements we do. It's a never ending process when you're a homeowner. It's usually a question of letting things be until it rots or fix things as soon as it's needed. 

We've listed a couple of things that need care and repair for our home. There are some things we delayed to this year, since it still works and doesn't need immediate attention. There are some things that need to be fixed immediately for safety. 

Here's what we need to do in the coming months:

1. Repairs

- garage faucet

- sewage is still blocked (neighbor should get it fixed)

- top of front wall (the cats keep scratching it)

- bed reinforcement

2. Cleaning

- gutters

- annual furniture cleaning

- paintings (by batch)

3. Painting 

- front gate

- Front wall

4. Install/replace

- garage light

- dead solar lights

- mailbox

- outdoor stairs 

5. On-time payments 

- fire insurance

- homeowners fees

- RPT

- utility bills

I really want to enjoy our home this year by not doing any major repairs. We nailed our roof issue finally last year, so I'd really want to enjoy, fix the house, decorate and focus on other fun things.

#BeKind #StaySafe

15 Years

Google Photos made this then and now photo of me. It's a family photo from where we started in a small, rented home. We moved there because it was nearer my childhood home.

Our now photo is not in our current home, but in one place where we usually done at. We're creatures of habit, so we always visit a place when it provides comfort.

It's unbelievable how much we've been through in the last 15+ years. We are now in our 7th home! I really to my sister's advise when she told me our first home won't be our last since our needs would change. 

It's true, needs change as you age. My wonky body needs something else at this point, but we are where God plants us. I wonder how things will go in the next 15 years!

#BeKind #StaySafe

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

Our Christmas Trees the past 15 Years

I was thinking about what throwback to do today and thought about looking at the past Christmas trees we've put up the past 15 Years. I previously shied away from having huge trees since Mom always had a tall one.

2010

Our first one was in our rented home. I had been collecting decors over the years. I also made framed photo decors which I used for a long time and then it got buried under a lot of other stuff. Maybe I should make a new set?

We eventually moved to smaller homes, so our trees also shrunk, haha. We honestly only made an effort to decorate when Mom would spend Christmas with us. I wanted to honor her by doing the same. So here's our tree the past three years.

2018

2020, pandemic tree

When we finally went home from Singapore, I got a taller tree since we had more space. It wasn't the tree of my dreams, but it worked out for a few years. 

2021

And the tree shirt I finished that year.

It was when we lost Mom in 2023 when I decided to get a proper tree. I saw her always make an effort to decorate. I wanted to honor her memory by doing the same. Here's our current tree.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Desert Rose (Kalachuchi) Rescue After Two Months

It's been two months since we rescued a pot of kalachuchi from my childhood home. It stood lonely beside our pedestrian gate. It was totally neglected and had very few leaves yet.

We brought it back home and I worked on adding soil, perlite, rice hull and compost to it. I didn't dare cut any of the stems for fear it might die. I gave it a good soak and put it where rain could reach it.

After a few weeks, baby leaves started to come out. I would turn the pot around to allow it to get more sunlight. I guess it was happy hanging around my calamansi plants because it started to produce flowers stems last October.

Two months after

Despite heavy rains and typhoons, it bloomed beautifully during typhoon UwanPH. The strong howling winds did not affect the flowers. At the same time, my two other pots (also rescued from Mom's garden) bloomed.

Rescued early this year

Thanks Mom and St. Fialcre, for helping me with the plants. There's more I need to transfer. We'll get them soon.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Cooking, Some Gardening and Still Sorting

I had a busy day today, but I allotted some energy to cook pink pasta. It's been a few weeks since I last cooked, so thought it would be a good day to make something easy. 

It turned out a bit too orange though, haha, I think I used a bigger pack of tomato paste. Still delicious and filling nonetheless.

Here's how I usually make it -

Pink Pasta Recipe

I did some gardening too. Sweetie reported seeing some caterpillars on the gumamela. I guess the rain washed off the Neem oil I sprayed the other day. I also planted two stems of philodendron cuttings. After that I watered some plants with rice water which will help keep them healthy.

Sweetie helped with sorting today. He took care of the electronics boxes. I'm glad we finally found Daddy's old cameras. I asked him to keep it in a box first. I'll check it out eventually. The treasure I found today are a bunch of sea shells which I think we collected over the years. Some are probably Miggy's when we used to go to Pasacao. 

Time to rest now, tomorrow will be another busy day.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Worn Out

I just realized I overdid things this week. I tend to do that when I have bursts of energy. I did some heavy gardening for two days. Went to the mall and sorted Mom's stuff for another two days. In between that I re-organized my closet.

I thought I could continue sorting stuff today. No wonder Sweetie just laughed when I told him I'll finished the boxes he got this weekend. I'm exhausted and should have rested after pulmo rehab yesterday. My therapist also realized I'm probably suffering the ill effects of long COVID-19 since I could go straight for a few weeks with pulmo rehab and then be absent for another few weeks. 

It's just that I feel antsy whenever I have a surge of energy. I need to do things, but I need to also figure out the right time to stop. It would be better I know when so I don't get too exhausted.

Anyway, it's the weekend, so I'll rest and resume on Monday.

Happy weekend everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe