Keep Moving

My physiotherapist in Singapore taught me that a lot of pain you feel can be fixed with exercise. That is what our Ortho also told us yesterday when we went to see him. Miggy's knee has been wonky the past few months and his 12 sessions of PT wasn't enough. The doctor said that we'll try something to help his knee. 

Move. At least 30 minutes a day. He can walk outside or use a treadmill. 

That's the diskarte for now.

I realized I need to also walk more and regain my confidence in moving around. I walk around the house with no problem, but the boys hover over me when I use the stairs and when I step out. It was probably traumatizing for them to witness me fall down the stairs (well, just a step). The incident though lowered my confidence of moving on my own especially when we are outside. And that's what I need to work on.

Keep moving!

#BeKind #StaySafe

A Glimpse of my Future Sewing Room!

I haven't been able to sew for the past two weeks. My Grogu grid quilt still hasn't been binded! I've been itching to sew, but we've been up to our ears with lists we need to complete for our architect. It's not just about procuring the items, but we also have to understand what exactly we've been buying. It made me realize things were much simpler for our parents. Before purchasing lights, you just buy a bulb or a fluorescent light. There's a gazillion options nowadays and it's just crazy.

I'm just thinking, when all of this craziness is done I will finally have a proper sewing room. I do have one now, but it's full to the brim with the craft stuff my Mom left. My future sewing room will have an area for materials and an area where I can do the actual work. I've been using my old sewing table, but I need to clear it for every step since I don't have space to have a separate cutting table, ironing area and my design wall has been covered with boxes. 

The resident cat.

The funny thing is there's a cat who lives in my sewing area now. The assistant foreman adopted it when they moved in and it has grown up. It's so comfortable in the area already, but he will have to go with his furdad when the time comes since we have 8 very territorial cats! 

The space is just a loft which I requested to be added. It's an "emergency area" in case there's flooding and we need to head up to higher ground. It is farfetched, but with how things are nowadays, you can just never prepare enough. The area will be well lighted and I expect to spend many hours in the room. 

I originally wanted to install hexagon lights, but after visiting several light shops I got overwhelmed whenever they turned on all the lights. I decided to just have a tubular led light since I read it's better to use floor lamps to make the light closer to what you're working on. I think that makes a lot of sense. I also don't want an overly lighted room which can look like a portal if you see it outside, haha. 

I also originally planned to use the wood flooring from my childhood home. Unfortunately, termites got to it when it was stored, huhu! We thought about using carpeting, but eventually decided to use tiles. It will be easier to manage and less hazardous to me if pins and needles fall on the floor. I'm just deciding now whether to use blinds or curtains, or both. The room would be warm in the afternoons. 

Everything else is still a blank slate and I might get help from my friend's daughter who's a newly minted architect. If you left it up to me, I'll just probably pull random tables and chairs to make it work and it's going to end up really messy. 

What should I put in my sewing room?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Why You Should Be More Involved in Home Renovation/Building

We had some experience in home renovations before embarking on building a new house. One big lesson we learned was to be more involved. After we did repairs to our new home a few years ago, we discovered later there were things that could have been done better. 

Flushing was not installed at all and was just secured by tiles to weigh it down.

The biggest bubu of the contractor was not installing the flushing on the roof. The repair was actually caused by water dripping from the kitchen ceiling. Adding flushing between the wall and the roof was supposed to be THE solution. Imagine our surprise when we had our roof painted with insulation paint. The painter discovered that the flushing was not installed and was kept down with tiles! It was a hazard which we didn't know about since none of us can get up on the roof. 

Don't go for matte paint, it looks nice but it's harder to maintain.

On another project, we were surprised to see the paint on the wall streaked. The agent told us that the wall would moisten during heavy rain. Above the room is the laundry area and so it's probably in need of waterproofing. I've never experienced that in the past, but I noticed that whenever the walls are wiped with a damp cloth you'd see streaks of removed paint. I figured the contractor must have used cheap paint. Home Depot staff advised us to mix in some gloss to prevent that and to make the paint a bit glossy. 

And don't get me started on electrical and plumbing stuff... I have covered those issues in previous posts. 

Us wearing our procurement hat.

We decided to be more involved in our current project since we realized that contractors would cut costs and a lot of the work also depends on whether their crew is managed well. We were lucky we were able to negotiate to do the purchasing of some items that are important to us. We've been up to our ears procuring tiles, bathroom fixtures and now we've been purchasing lights. We've been learning a lot, but I'm grateful to learn more and be more involved than we were before. It's hard, but this way we can be sure we're building something that would hopefully last longer than my 55 year old childhood home. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

A Wish for PWDs

We've been going out a lot more for errands lately and it's been hard for us. I was advised by my doctors and pulmo rehab team to use a wheelchair to get around. I can walk, but my heart and lungs are not able to cope with so much effort. I'm not supposed to overwork both since I'm due for surgery. 

The boys take care of me when we're out, but getting around is hard. Local establishments try to be PWD friendly, but I don't think they have tested their premises with PWDs. Here's a list of what they can improve on:

Fixed a week after, you can still see the area that was fixed.

• Doors - make sure they can be opened fully. The doors at some malls require 3 people. Two to hold 2 doors and one to push the wheelchair. 
• Ramps - I had a hair-raising experience in one establishment that had a ramp to the elevator. It was steep, short and cracked. I had to get off the wheelchair whenever we rode the elevator. Getting up and going back to the wheelchair drained my energy. Good thing the guard probably reported it and a week later the chipped areas were fixed, but it was still very steep. 
• Sidewalk entryways - this has always been problematic especially at parking garages. I also experienced a commercial establishment where they put a huge planter box which made it hazardous to pass through the ramp on a wheelchair. I would have probably fall if we tried it.
• Pedestrian walkways should be flat and not use uneven pavers. It's like riding a bumpy rollercoaster when you're on a wheelchair. 
• Establishments without wheelchair ramps. We went to eat at a resto which had quite a steep ramp to its doorstep, but when we got to the door there was no ramp to get in. 

An architect mentioned to me before that there is a code for making establishments PWD friendly. He explained it even goes down to the angle of the ramp. Sadly, it's just an afterthought here and it's not enforced by building officials. I'm lucky I'm still able to stand up and walk (I just can't get too far), but there are those who don't and are dependent on their wheelchair. Maybe establishments can test their premises to understand what they need to improve on.

So far, the only place that has been pretty seamless for me is the new building of the mall near us. I only get up when I want to sit on a chair if we're dining out. They need to seriously get a new elevator for their old building. It can only carry about 4 to 5 people including the elevator person.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Bougies!

I was baffled when I first encountered the term "bougies". I think I was watching a YouTube videos and the vp gger kept calling bougainvillea, "bougies". I have to be honest, I'd rather call the plant by its proper name, bougainvillea.

Well, the next plant to produce flowers was one of the bougainvillea plants beside the Gumamela (hibiscus) that flowered last week. It really likes the warm, sunny weather and promptly produced flowers. There would have been a lot more, but I trimmed them a lot since I was getting random wounds on my arms and legs. I also want their stems to become sturdier in the next few months. 

That's all for now. Internet connectivity is down, so I'm saving bits in case the issue isn't resolved soon.

Happy Saturday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Swimming with a Mumu

I like watching scary stuff. I just watched the second installment of ABS-CBN's "Philippines Most Haunted" where they featured a ghost in a pool. It was well narrated by Mr. Joonie Gamboa (he's perfect for this series IMHO). 

This wasn't the pool. It was pre-internet era when I swam with a mumu.

Anyway, the episode this week featured a ghost in a swimming pool. It reminded me of a story I wrote way back (I used to write ghost stories in my blog, "Tales of the Moonless Sky"). I was a student when we went to a resort in Laguna for a team-building activity. 

I'd go for a swim in the mornings and thought the black shadow I saw in the pool was just my eyes doing tricks on me. I found out it wasn't later in the day. An entity was living in the pool. Creepy! Full story is here.

I have forgotten about it already since that happened over 3 decades ago. It was actually featured on Qtube way, way back (post is here). It's been a long time and I haven't had any visits from the other kind. I prefer it that way and I already have a lot of other things on my plate. If ever, I just pray. I have also been wearing a St. Benedict medal for protection.

Tagaytay in 2010

One of our favorite places to go to is Tagaytay. We go at least once a year. Lately, we go just to have brunch, have coffee and buy some plants and veggies at Mahogany.

One reason we go is when we have relatives visiting from abroad. And that was why we went back in 2010. My sister was visiting from the US and we had a day trip.

The Taal volcano back then wasn't active and  was very green. The weather was also cooler back then. The volcano was grey and was releasing some gas when we went last weekend. I didn't need to wear my cardigan at all.