Listening to Christmas Songs in September

As soon as September 1 rolled in, I started playing Christmas songs. Because, why not? The Philippines has the longest Christmas in the world. I don't really know when that started because when I was younger it was usual for Mom to start decorating after All Souls Day. She'd usually do some "spring" cleaning and the next day the decors are up. 

Mom loved the Christmas season. Her birthday is in December. Oh, and Tito Ben's,Tito Tony's, my MIL and Kuya Koko's birthdays are also in December. We also celebrate several wedding anniversaries in December. I guess that's one reason why it's always a festive month in our family. Mom and Dad always invited family and friends in our home. They preferred to have people visit and my friends have happy memories of visiting our home. 

It's been awhile since I really celebrated Christmas. We had Mom over last Christmas and Sweetie just set up the tree on Christmas eve. We weren't able to send out all our gifts! This year I'd like to celebrate Christmas the way Mom used to do it. Told myself I have to prepare early and that's why I'm listening to Christmas songs this early.

It'll be Christmas before you know it, so I'll use the "ber" months to prepare and celebrate Papa Jesus' birthday properly. He is, after all, the reason for the season!

#BeKind #StaySafe

 

Zipper Practice! Made a Quilted Pouch

Thought I'd match the quilted laptop sleeve I made for my friend with a small pouch. She could use it as a pencil case or for knick-knacks. It would fit the pocket of the laptop sleeve or she could put it in her bag. I originally wanted to make a pot holder or coaster, but she probably won't use it. My friends who I gave mug rugs ended up just displaying the project. They said it's too precious (hehe). I want to make items that are useful, so I thought a pouch/pencil case would be better to make. 

I also wanted to improve my skills. I have a friend who makes amazing bags in all shapes and sizes, with zippers! So this project was meant to test my zipper skills. It did not disappoint because I made a mistake adding the lining. I had to remove the stitches and that took at least 30 minutes, hahaha. 

The project just took one night to make. I made it while watching some YouTube videos. It was a great way to be productive and it required me to move between the family room (where I sew now) and my maker room (where all my stuff is). We were home bound the past week anyway because of the typhoon. This week I have to schedule my pulmo rehab. Hopefully no more typhoons for the time-being. 

Well, here's how I made the pouch with a zipper -

 

Special thanks to Sweetie for lending me his toy studio so I could take a nicer photo of the project, hehe. Here's how it looks under ispesyal lights -

More info on how to make this pouch at:

https://www.needleadventures.com/2023/09/quilted-pouch-with-sleeve.html

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Home Hacks: Cleaning and Pest Control

Miggy and I lived in my parents home until Sweetie and I got married. It was honestly a shock for me when we moved because it was our first time to live on our own. Mom sent someone to help clean every week and she also sent food for the first few weeks (well it was Christmas time and there was always a lot of food). Eventually, we were on our own and early days adventures are chronicled on Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal. 

We've been on our own for 14 years now. We are now on our 9th home and we also experienced living abroad. I didn't chronicle much of our time in Singapore since I considered it as one long business trip. I don't know why, but I only felt Singapore as my second home in the last few years we lived there. I had a hard time adjusting since my boys were in Manila. 

Anyway, we're far now from our band-aid filled early days. We get help when needed, but here's a list of home hacks we learned through the years:

• 
  Keep Roaches Away. Baygon roach bait (the tablets you stick on the wall) - we use this all the time to keep roaches away since I'm allergic to it (even just the smell). 
• Stain Removal. Baking soda - for cleaning and removing stains. Best paired with vinegar to remove hard water stains. Babad containers that are hard to wash to remove oil. 
• Repel Animals from Using Your Garden as their Toilet. Lemon juice + apple cider vinegar + water - don't want cats to use your garden as their toilet? Spray this and they'll stay away. 
• Plant Pest Control. Baking soda + neem oil + castille soap + water - best pesticide for your garden. Keeps annoying aphids and other insects away.
• Glass/Mirror Cleaning. Dishwashing liquid + baking soda + vinegar + water - spray on glass/mirror to keep it clean. 
• Floor Cleaning. Pine Sol or Pledge Floor Cleaner - best for wooden floors. Also, always ask the floor provider (or landlord if you're renting) what to use. 
• Remove Algae. Clorox or Domex - best for removing algae. Soak the algae with it and it will die. Brush or wash off after. 
• Disinfect Tools. Hydrogen peroxide - to disinfect tools (i.e. I use it mostly for garden tools). I also use it to restore used soil especially if it was infested with insects. I mix a little in a gallon of water and soak the soil. Then I put it under the sun. 
• All Around Cleaner. Young Living Thieves household cleaner. One bottle goes a long way. I have spray bottles of it all over the house and use it to clean coutertops, tables, bathroom countertop and sink. I also disinfect the dish sponge in water with half a cap of Thieves cleaner every so often. 
• Baking Soda + Joy. Did you notice that Joy dishwashing liquid is less bubbly now? I don't know if they changed anything because it takes more now to really clean. I added a teaspoon of baking soda to the Joy + water mixture and that helped a lot. 

I have severe allergies, so we've avoided using commercial pest control sprays. We got help from a pest control company though for termites. They advised never to DIY that because the termites will just move. Best to have a professional do it. They also offer insect treatment and we do it quarterly since we had a really bad higad infestation last year (lot's of trees around us). 

I don't have a wide array of cleansers in my cupboard. My staples are Domex and Clorox and I just mix baking soda with other ingredients for other needs. A box of baking soda lasts me months since I just use a teaspoon or two whenever I make concoctions. 

Fear Not!

Whenever I'm scared I always cry out, "Mommy!" I do it especially when there is a thunderstorm. I also do it whenever something scares me. Does you do that too?

Yesterday morning I was woken up by sirens. It wasn't the usual I hear and I realized there was probably a fire somewhere near. I tried to go back to sleep, but to make sure we were safe I searched on Twitter and Facebook to find out the location of the fire. It was a kilometer away from us, in a barangay adjacent to us. 

I looked out the window and didn't see visible signs of the fire. Our street was also very quiet. Everyone was asleep except me. Sweetie was sound asleep, so I didn't wake him up since the are was quite far from us. It kept me awake for awhile. The sun had risen by the time I fell asleep again. 

I realized I still have PTSD from the fire that happened behind our home almost a year ago. There was also a typhoon the day it happened. Mom was still alive then, but I did not want to worry here. I just prayed in the car while waiting for the fire department to solve the issue. Luckily the fire just damaged part of our firewall and it was fixed a few months ago. I told Mom about the incident when it was over. 

Now that Mom is not around anymore, I still call out to her whenever I get scared (yes, I dislike thunder). I reach out to Sweetie or Miggy when the storm is crazy. GodWhispers though reminded me that you should lean on your faith when you fear something. I calmed down yesterday after praying for the safety of everyone involved in the fire. A news clip said that everyone is safe. 

“For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ ” - Isaiah 41:13 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Accidentally Grew a Tree

I was working on harvesting compost from our bins and was surprised to see a plant in the bin. I told the boys not to add anything to the bin so it would finish. Left the cover partially open so it could breathe. I prioritized other garden projects and only found time yesterday to harvest. 

I pulled out the plant. It was more than a foot long. The root was growing from a fruit which looks like mango. Our neighbor has a tall mango tree and sometimes some fruits would fall in our backyard. I sometimes leave the compost bin open, so maybe one of the fruits fell in. 

As they say, nature finds a way. I planted the seedling in a pot. I'm going to read up on how best to grow it. It would be fun to grow a mango tree since Mom had several trees in her backyard before. I think there's one left since the others were affected by typhoons. 

The fire tree seeds I planted didn't grow. The seeds may be past its prime already, so this is a good replacement. I also have several palm trees that grew on their own. Maybe some birds dropped the seeds. I've been putting them in pots. Will give them away to anyone who wants it. 

Happy Saturday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tried Baking Calamansi Muffins

Managed to buy a lot of calamansi from a neighbor. They were big and juicy! We certainly enjoyed drinking calamansi juice everyday. We still had a lot so I thought I'd finally try baking some calamansi muffins. I have two recipes I've been wanting to try, so that's what Miggy and I did last weekend. 

The process was fairly easy, but we struggled with our oven. We haven't used it a lot yet, so we're still getting to know it. We ended up with a pale yellow set. The other one turned out a bit burnt, haha. It tasted like calamansi muffin and it was moist. Sweetie though said it tasted better the next day! 

Well, my neighbor is selling calamansi again, so maybe next time I'll try the other recipe, haha. Here's how we made this batch -

Ingredients at https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2023/08/recipes-for-my-son-calamansi-muffins.html

#BeKind #StaySafe

Birthday Celebration Circa 2008

Found a bunch of old photos from a birthday celebration 15 years ago. I couldn't help but be bewildered over the length of time since this party. It seems just like yesterday when the get together with (mostly) blogger friends happened. It was held at SM's Taste Asia. I'm not even sure if the place is still there since we rarely visit Mall of Asia now. 

This is one memorable celebration since I had friends from other cities who came. The celebration also merged my friends from different eras of my life. My parents were both still very healthy and a few friends who are gone now were still around. This was also my last birthday before my body changed because of pneumonia. 

Well, happy days are meant to spur you to create more happy memories. Looking back serves as a reminder for me to be grateful for what I have. It also reminds me that I was strong enough to fight back whatever challenges I come across. 

To be honest, I stopped celebrating my birthday for awhile now. I just didn't feel like there was a reason to celebrate. I only started celebrating after I had my second PE*. I realized our time here is short and we should continue to make more happy memories. It doesn't have to be big celebrations like I used to have. Simple and with your loved ones will do. 

The only thing I want from 15 years ago? My perfect weight, haha. 

#BeKind #StaySafe