It Finally Bloomed Again!

My gumamela plants hibernated. They haven't been producing any flowers in almost two years now. They weren't happy where they were and I've been looking for a good spot where to put them. Out of the 4 I bought back in 2023, one died. It was eaten by pests and I wasn't able to save it. I was able to save the 3, but they've been unhappy. 

Two weeks ago, I fed the gumamela plants bone meal and with the sun out everyday, one finally produced two flowers! I was ecstatic! And the one that bloomed is one of my favorite two-tone variants. Yay!

I should probably fertilize them with bone meal more often, but bone meal is expensive! Oh well, it's like what you say when you keep going to a derma, tiis ganda, haha. 

What do you do to encourage your plants to produce flowers?

#BeKind #StaySafe

A Southie Fave: Presko Coffee

It's been awhile since we first experienced dining at Presko Coffee. It's a cafe founded near where we live. The first time we went there was on election day in 2022. We honestly haven't been back to the actual cafe but we've been ordering almost every week. I sometimes interact with the owner through Threads. 

Anyway, we noticed they added their abot kaya meals in their Grab menu. Sweetie and I were both craving for adobo. He got the chicken adobo abot kaya meals and I got the pork gourmet adobo. We just gobbled up one Spanish bread each so we'll wait a bit before eating. It smells good though and I'm excited to eat dinner!

Well, we ordered for dinner so we didn't get any drinks. I usually get Presko latte for breakfast or the muscovado latte if I'm ordering lunch. Sweetie and Miggy are more adventurous and usually switch around what they order to drink. Anything you order there is good anyway, so you can just try anything.

 

What I haven't tried are their cakes. I usually get a cookie, but I haven't tried any of the cakes and other pastries. I normally get so full after eating what I ordered and that's why I haven't tried any of the cakes. I'll make sure to try something soon. 

If you want to try Presko, they recently opened a branch in Ensueno, Makati. It's just for take-away and I'm not sure if it's just the abot kaya meals or if they have the full menu. They also have branches in Malacanang, Manila and Caloocan. Just search for it and try it soon!

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In Power Saving Mode

After running errands back to back for two days, my energy was depleted. I was too brave and attended pulmo rehab. I barely made it out alive, haha.

I've been ordered to rest and that's what I'll do. 

Zzzzz.

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The Parking Angel

My friend Honey was the one who introduced me to the parking angel. She said she always prays to get a good spot to park whenever she's out.

We tested last weekend to recuperate from the bad days I had due to the haze. Miggy has to rest too from his gym activities.

We've been running around the metro the past two days and the parking angel has been very kind to us. With Miggy busy with his appointments, it's just me and Sweetie going around and I'm grateful we've been blessed to park near the entrances since it's hard to get around on a wheelchair.

Thank you parking angel 😇 

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Should I Frame my Baby Yoda Project?

After a gazillion years, I'm almost done with my Baby Yoda grid quilt project! Rawrrrrr! It took me so long to hand quilt it since I have to rest my arm from repetitive movement. I had to rest in between, but I finally finished the last stitch last weekend. 

And now I just need to add the binding. I haven't gotten around to doing it since we've been busy with a long list of errands. I also got sick and was down for a few days, so that's why we're cramming a lot of stuff right now. 

I'll probably take a break from sewing when I finish this project. I need time to finish organizing my "maker/sewing" room which looks more like a bodega now. I am thinking though to make one grid quilt annually to add to my "collection". Should I frame them? Here's the Pikachu one I made two years ago.

What do you think?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plumbing Needs for Your House

We had an OMG moment when the engineer overseeing the construction near us told us that the owner who hired him to build the house didn't have plans for a septic tank. We eventually discovered that they didn't also connect their sewage properly. It affected us severely because their rainwater drainage and sewage was flowing back to us. (Read more about what happened and how it eventually got resolved here, here and I just realized I didn't write about the ending, will do soon).

Anyway, because of that very bad experience, we resolved that when we build our future home we will make sure to cover all areas of plumbing. Here's how we thought about it:

• What should the connection to Maynilad look like? 
• How can we check if there's water coming in or none?
• How do we want to store water? A tank? Cistern? Are you collecting rainwater?
• How do we reduce having the tank cleaned? (It costs at least 6k to 8k to get a tank cleaned!)
• How do we want our bathrooms set-up? Will we use a heater? Do we want a high-tech toilet (we chose the regular one)?
• For the kitchen, do we want to use a heater? Do we want to use a water filter? Do we want to have a faucet on top of the stove (nope)? What kind of sink are we using? Are we having just one big kitchen or a dry and wet kitchen? 
• How do we plan to do laundry? How many faucets do we need and how many washing machines are we going to use? Do we need an outdoor sink? What about drainage?
• We also thought about where we need to have water for watering the garden and cleaning.
• And most importantly, where will the septic tank be located? For this one, you need to ask your HOA or barangay where the connection for sewage is located. 

It's not the most exciting thing to think about, but it's very important to plan it ahead. It's easy to plan when you have a good understanding of your routines and needs. Think about the future too. We have been collecting rainwater for a few years now and that's what we use to water our plants. I think we saved a lot from collecting rainwater for our plants and cleaning outdoors.

A good plumbing system will save you a lot from having headaches. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Don't Turn a Blind Eye to What is Wrong

I know what you're thinking... This is not a political post or commentary. The past few days we've been watching, "Love is Never Gone". It's a series on Prime which we initially got to watch on YouTube. It piqued our interest, but we only continued watching it this week.

Sunset in Morocco

The series was very vibrant. The locations where they filmed was not just a backdrop, but also part of how the story was told. It was well thought out and barely any boring moments.

Once upon a time in Morocco :)

The quote, "Don't turn a blind eye to what is wrong," was uttered by Ronnie (JM) to Raya (Fyang). They were arguing about the crimes her family was involved in. Well, just watch it :)

Enjoy!

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