Wake Up! September has Ended!

The song "Wake me up when September ends" by Green Day never gets old. It's a song about the grief Billie Joe Armstrong felt when his father passed away. I guess all of us have gone through similar journeys. 

September has ended and what I remember about the past month is the rain was replaced by haze. We were also busy trying to reach our health goals. That keeps us going every week. In between those appointments we were home doing a myriad of things. Tending to the garden, playing with cats, decluttering, and we were able to cook some good food too. 

Here's the one second everyday for the month of September:

I can say it was a pretty mundane month. Boring is good since it was already a struggle to combat the haze and breathe clean air. I hope October will be a better month. We have started to think about how best to survive the super El Nino which is supposed to hit us starting this month. 

Have a great week everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Bad Air Quality (It's Really Bad!)

On our way home yesterday my nose started dripping while we were in the middle of EDSA. I immediately checked the IQ Air app and saw the reading was at 228 violet alert. That means the air quality is very unhealthy for everyone. I immediately wore my mask again even though we were in the car and I had a portable air purifier running. Better to be safe than to get sick.

With no rain, the air quality was worse today. My tonsils have been hurting a bit, so I've been drinking more water. I remember my pulmo told me before that bad air can affect your breathing and your tonsils. Stay hydrated he said and stay in a room with your windows closed and use your air purifier. 

As much as I want to do some gardening, I've just been watering the plants. I also wear a mask to be sure I don't have an asthma attack. There's nothing much you can do when there is haze, just protect yourself by wearing a mask, staying indoors, hydrating and using an air purifier.

Time to wake up tomorrow!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Work in Progress: Baby Yoda Project

I'm still working on my Baby Yoda grid quilt project. Hand quilting is taking longer than I expected since I can't overdo using my wrist. 

I'm planning to frame it when I'm done and I'll also have the Pikachu one framed too.

Happy crafting everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Details that Need Input for Your House Construction

To be honest, we all got cross-eyed when we were presented with the planned details. They were made by our architect together with engineers. There were pages upon pages of drawings showing the structure, elevation, ceiling, electrical, windows, tile count etc. Printed on huge blue paper, they were overwhelming. 

We started a shared document with our architect to note down our requests. It started with comments on the layout and after that followed details on the following:

• 
  Electrical needs
• List of appliances per room 
• Where we wanted outlets
• Placement of airconditioners
• Additional lights
• Outdoor electrical needs
• Plumbing
• Installation of water heater for bathrooms (if any)
• Outdoor needs for plumbing
• Plan for water tank
• Plan for rainwater collection
• Internet/phone
• Point the location for your Telco wirings for internet and phone
• Extenders where needed
• CCTV
• Pinpoint where you intend to put CCTV since that requires wirings too
• Solar
• Get your solar provider to do an inspection for solar installation. There are requirements they need to follow from Meralco
• Pest control
• This is important especially if you're in an area where there are a lot of termites. Pest control companies can install pipes around your house to make it easier to do treatment.

Including details to the plan will help the construction team a lot. We were able to avoid doing corrections which can get expensive especially with plumbing and electrical requirements. 

Or I'm just probably a bit OCD, haha.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Last Sunday of September

I woke up a bit late today. My forehead is still smarting after I bumped it on a table yesterday. I had a goose egg lump, but the swelling has gone down after icing it several times.

Anyway, I didn't let it get in the way on what I wanted to do today. I had to water the plants generously today because we won't have water tomorrow according to Maynilad. I gave the plants some bone meal too before I watered them. They're going to have a nutrition boost. 

After a bit of rest, Sweetie and I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. We baked salmon in garlic cream cheese, made fried brown rice, and prepped red onion pickles for tomorrow's food. The food disappeared in a jiffy, haha.

And now my energy is depleted. Good thing I squeezed in some sewing time after lunch.

Happy new week!

#BeKind #StaySafe

5 Months After Propagating Mom's Bougainvillea

I was warned by our architect that Mom's plants would not survive the construction. I made it my mission to propagate Mom's plants especially her bougainvillea trees.

Mom told me several times that she just propagated the bougainvillea from cuttings. I only realized that she had different varieties. 

I made a final push to propagate different varieties. I crossed my fingers and prayed that the project would succeed because on April 1, the summer heat was really bad. Above are the bunch I placed in an area where anything I propagate usually succeeds.

I started seeing new leaves grow after a few weeks. I did the ICU method and kept the plastic bottles on for two to three months to make sure they were stable. 

 

I would trim as needed, but in the past two months I let them grow like crazy. They're in an open space and hard to reach when it's raining. At least, they're all growing well and are healthy!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Homemade Menudillo at Itlog

It's been awhile since we had Menudillo at Itlog at home. I saw a friend make it and I had a sudden craving for it. We got the ingredients and then immediately cooked it. Ahh, craving satisfied.

Menudillo is very easy to make. Just add the ingredients one after another and season with salt and pepper. I usually make it with just 400 grams of ground pork. It's just enough for two meals for us and not too heavy on the belly. You can also opt to add raisins if you like (I usually don't). 

Here's how I make it at home:

Full recipe at: https://recipesformyson.blogspot.com/2026/09/recipes-for-my-son-menudillo-at-itlog.html

Happy weekend everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe