Seasons

It's a new month again and I'm amazed how time seems to fly faster. It feels strange because I'm just mostly home and only go out once or twice a week. I guess the three of us are home bodies and we always rush back home after being out for a few hours. 

After my birthday, I realized life is seasonal. The seasons differ as your circumstance changes. The past few years I kept aiming to go back to what I could do before. The harder I strive, the more backward my health goes. It was stressful because I kept comparing my productivity to what I was able to do. 

I finally stopped fighting it recently and accepted the fact that my body won't go back to what it was before. My doctors have time and again explained my issues are mostly mechanical. I was born with this equipment and I just have to make the best out of it. 

I've always had a hard time sleeping and I started to do breathing exercises which supposedly help your heart heal. There's nothing to lose since it's just breathing exercises. Just before sleeping and after your evening prayers, lie down, hold your heart, breathe in 4 counts, hold for 2 and then exhale for 6 counts. 

It felt awkward the first time I did it, but I eventually got the hang of it and I usually fall asleep while doing it. I'll check in a week or two if my heart rate has gone down. I noticed it's gone up the past two months and I had an AFib attack two weeks ago after pulmo rehab. My heart rate was steady during my pulmo rehab a few days ago. I'd like to think it's working since I've also been praying for healing while I do the breathing exercises. 

Have a happy Sunday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

A Different Paprikash Version

I only watered some of my plants today and I haven't done any gardening for a long time now. I hibernated all week because of the haze and only managed to go out today since the air quality is much better because it's been raining like crazy again. 

Anyway, the intense rain woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep. We had to cancel our appointments since I was groggy from lack of sleep and my head hurt. I managed to sleep more and told myself I should have a productive day.

I ironed some clothes, sandwiched my Baby Yoda project in batting, watered a few plants and I cooked chicken Paprikash. I only had half a kilo of chicken, so checked if I could just add mushrooms. Ahh, apparently there's a version of chicken Paprikash with mushrooms. I didn't bother to take videos since I also lined up the cat food ingredients for cooking. 

Anyway, I added the mushrooms after I made the onion/garlic/paprika/flour paste and the followed the rest of the recipe. I was a bit anxious, but it turned out really tasty even though I only had half a cup of sour cream available. Ahh, next time I'll do this combination again. 

Here's how I made chicken Paprikash, if you want to try the mushroom combination, just add the mushrooms after you make the paste. 

Ahhh, I'm so full, I hope I have enough energy left to put the boiled cat food in the food processor. I want to make our cats happy too!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Scallops in Pink Pasta! Yummeeh!

I finally got around to editing this "Recipes for My Son" video on how to cook scallops in pink pasta. I started making this while looking for pink pasta recipes I can cook at home. Miggy doesn't like red pasta, so it's mainly a compromise since I like eating pasta.

Here's how to make it:

If you want it spicy, just add cayenne pepper. Alternatively, a friend suggested you can replace the black pepper with furikake. I'll probably try it next time I make this dish. Oh, Sweetie and I like adding Tajin to the dish while we're eating. It brings it to another level when we do that. I just don't add it while cooking because Miggy might not like it. It's a great condiment for a lot of stuff (including pizza!).

Try it this weekend? Let me know what you think. 

Full recipe here.

https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2026/09/recipes-for-my-son-scallops-in-pink.html

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback: August 2026

I started tracking the weather on my planner when I noticed that it was raining more often last July. It rained everyday from July 27 to August 20 in our area. It's the only time in my life I have experienced so much rain. 

We canceled half of our appointments because it was raining so hard and flooded around our area. We didn't want to take the risk of getting stuck somewhere. We ventured out sparingly and only when it was really needed. 

Staying in gave me time to scan old photos and I managed to do some cooking. My garden though is a huge mess. All my plants have grown like crazy and badly need trimming. I haven't been able to do any gardening because of the trans-boundary haze from Indonesia. 

The highlight of the month was my birthday! I skipped celebrating last year because of the accident. This time I got to celebrate with family and then had another one with some friends. I originally thought of doing a bigger celebration, but with the bad weather and disasters it's not appropriate. I'll just send a donation to Angat Buhay. 

Here's my August one second a day video!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Dealing with Haze

The bad air quality has been present for awhile now. I regularly check since it triggers me to have an asthma attack. I noticed it last August despite the rain. It would make itself felt when the rain stops. The air becomes heavy. My eyes start feeling heavy and itchy when the air quality is bad. 

Last week, reports were made about unusual haze in Pasay and Manila. Some also mentioned it reached Makati. No clear cause was identified for it. The air quality got worse the past few days and I knew I had to arm myself to prevent an asthma attack.

Here's what I usually do:

• Monitor air quality indicators. I use the IQ Air app since that's what DENR also uses.
• Take my asthma medication. Increase puffs and spray as needed.
• Wear N95 mask when outdoors.
• Use air purifiers at home. 
• Keep facial absorbent paper handy in case my eyes get oily.
• Keep essential oils handy (eucalyptus radiata and RC)
• Use portable air purifier in the car when I need to go out.
• Stay indoors.

The particulate matter brought by bad air quality is hazardous. I lived in Singapore for 10 years and I didn't have asthma growing up. Bad air quality helped deteriorate my lungs and that's why I now have asthma. It is my kryptonite and that's why I warn about bad air quality whenever it happenes.

Take care of your lungs!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Completed Part 2 of Baby Yoda (Pixel Art Project)

As expected, dividing the grid into 3 made piecing the Baby Yoda project easier. I also didn't do it as a grid (1" x 1" pieces). I cut the fabric based on the length of the same colors. 

At the speed I'm going I can probably finish this project in a few weeks. It took me almost a quarter last time when I made the Pikachu project using 1" x 1" pieces. Piecing together small cuts* is painful. It also means you'll have more corners to sewing together. It's really hard that's why it took me two years to work on a "pixel art" project. I took the chance to work on it this way to see if it works. :)

*They call 1" x 1" quilts postage stamp quilting. It's usually made with scrap fabric.

#BeKind #StaySafe

First Month of Demolition

It was surreal for me to see my childhood home be "unwrapped". That's how it felt during the first month of construction/demolition work. My siblings said they got to see the house built from the ground up. I'm witnessing the opposite -- the unraveling. 

Here's what happened in the first month:

Week 1: Removed all the "add-ons" including cabinets and big furniture we were planning to keep. They moved the big items to a hut in the garden. Bedroom walls and the bathroom were also removed. All inner doors were also removed. They worked fast!

Week 2: Started removing the flooring.

Week 3: Removed all the windows. It was during this week that the CCTV and server was relocated to a booth outside.

Week 4: After 4 weeks, the whole house felt decidedly empty. The "second floor" was almost gone. Everything left in the house was either in the hut or moved to our place. Our architect checked the development in-person weekly and kept in touch with the foreman everyday. 

If you noticed, we didn't have the site blessed at this point yet. The foreman suggested doing the blessing after they started to work on the new foundation. From the outside, it didn't look like something was being done to the house.

Mom's trees and plants effectively covered the house and nothing was done yet on the front area. That came months later.

Next week: site blessing!

#BeKind #StaySafe