Super Typhoon Preparations

After my therapy session, I went straight to the pocket garden to check the plants. I wanted to make sure they wouldn't be toppled over by the strong winds. Most were secure since I also had to make the area cat-proof (they like sleeping in pots!). 

Sweetie cut some of the bamboo this morning. He trimmed the top parts so they don't sway wildly while the typhoon is ongoing. He actually started a few days ago to make sure everything will be secure. 

The only thing I'm worried about are my bell pepper plants, tomatoes and two growing papaya trees. The bell peppers are still growing a number of fruits. I hope they don't get affected by the typhoon. I'm hopeful the papaya trees will stay put. One has flowers already and it takes months before they are ready to be harvested. 

I brought down some of the decorative plants. They were swaying wildly when I went out an hour ago. It was hard to grow them, so I set them in between larger plants to be protected from the wind. 

As for our cats, I added some beds that should warm them up in the next few days. They have hiding places and should be safe. Anakin and Grogu though loves the rain and they really like wiping their wet bodies on our legs, haha. We'll be ready with towels!

Stay safe and warm everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organizing

I was too tired yesterday to do anything. I just watched the impeachment trial the whole afternoon and watered the plants. I planned to organize some of my stuff since the clutter has been terrible. I usually get that urge to clean up when I'm in between projects.

I woke up rested today and after a hefty lunch, I puttered around while watching (again) the impeachment trial. After boxing some stuff, I started sorting documents from envelopes I put them in. These included bills, receipts, medical reports. 

My main goal this week is to reduce the clutter around me. When it hits a certain level I'm not able to do anything else because I get overwhelmed. I found it useful to target specific areas and then do another area if I still have time. 

Since I finished two "areas" today, I can move on to the "fun projects". It feels like I cleared the "cache" and can pile things up again, hahaha. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

My Craft Books Collection

I'm so sad. The nearest Booksale branch to me is gone. I had asked them several times if they were staying and they said they had no plans of leaving. Hubby went to the mall last Saturday and was surprised to see Booksale gone. 

A mix of books from Booksale, Big Bad Wolf, Kinokuniya, Amazon and trips

I've been collecting craft books the past few years and I buy at least one or two monthly from Booksale. It's hard to find craft books at regular bookstores, plus they're expensive, so we go to Booksale monthly. 

I enjoy going through the books. I usually do it while waiting for Miggy when he's at the gym. I use the books mainly for inspiration and when I'm stuck figuring out something. I know there are a gazillion sewing videos I can watch. I do that too, but going through books is a different experience. Aside from seeing designs, it also pushes me to be better at what I do. 

More than 50% of my collection are probably from Booksale. Some I buy at PhP15 to 30 only! Some are a bit more expensive. Part of my collection came from Kinokuniya, a few from National Bookstore/Fully Booked, Big Bad Wolf (here and Singapore), and a few from trips (especially the magazines). The collection started when the Gaylas gave me a boat-load of craft books for my 40th birthday, I just continued it :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Where to Donate/Sell Pre-Loved Items/Appliances?

It took us more than two years to clear more than 50 years worth of accumulated stuff from my childhood home. We had meter+ deep cabinets, so you can just imagine how much storage my Mom had in the house. She kept everything and that meant finding appliances used when I was still a child! We didn't have the time or energy to host a garage sale, so we found ways to donate and sell the items best used by someone else. 

Here's a list of where we donated and sold the excess items from my childhood home -

Donation centers:

• Library Hub Philippines - for books and useful office/school supplies
• Goodwill Philippines - pre-loved items (clothes, kitchen items etc.). We donated more than 200 mugs that were mostly unused, plus useful kitchen items, bags, clothes etc.
• Ateneo de Naga - where we sent my Dad's law books (coordinated through my cousin in Naga)

Items sold:

• 
  A.C. Scrap - old airconditioners
• Fernando Delgado junk shop - other junk like very old appliances 
• Old furniture (cabinets/cribs) was bought by the contractor and some of the workers

The proceeds of the sale were used to pay for our decluttering coach whose team helped finally pack and clear everything from the house. Some of the proceeds were also used for the ground-breaking and blessing of the property.

I still have some items which will go to relatives (mostly plates and drinkware). I also gave some furniture away since there's a lot. I'm expecting to give away more once the construction is done (it's currently stored and un-movable). We'll be using most of the key furniture (like the dining set), but I'll need to have it refurbished. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Kamote

We were just a few meters from our home when we almost met an accident. From the alley, a speeding motorcycle suddenly appeared. The driver wasn't looking our way. Good thing we were going slowly and Sweetie was able to hit the brakes and honk the horn. The motorcycle driver finally saw us and stopped.

I sat quietly the rest of the way because I didn't feel well after the near accident experience. When we got to the hospital, we traversed the parking area slowly. We stopped when we saw a car coming up from basement 4. The car stopped and had us go ahead. As we were turning left a security guard driving a motorcycle overtook the other car and almost hit us head-on. 

I broke my silence and screamed, "Kamote!" The guard didn't hear me, but looked at us sheepishly. Sheesh. It would have been a head on collision if we weren't going slowly.  We saw the same guard speeding again when we were on our way out of the hospital. Sheesh 

I have videos of both incidents and will report it to the HOA and hospital to send reminders about driving safely. I sat quietly again on the way home and cancelled plans to dine out. I just wanted to be home and safe.

#BeKind #StaySafe

New Flowering Plants

When we went to Mahogany Market last week, I couldn't help but buy a couple of plants. I still have a gazillion from Mom's garden to re-pot, but I wanted to get a few plants to help ward off pests. I tried growing marigold plants from seed, but it didn't work out. A neighbor said she also tried to grow them from seed and it also didn't work out. So, I bought a couple from Mahogany Market.

I re-potted them the day after because the condition of the plastic pots were circumspect (it weirdly had rice on it?). I placed them in the shade for a few days and moved them under the sun over the weekend. The most prolific one is the yellow marigold plant because I put it beside the tomatoes which get a lot more sunlight. I'll move the others this weekend so they can produce more flowers. 

I also got additional gumamela (hibiscus) plants. I got several colors so I can have more flowers in my garden. I absolutely love gumamela, they bring back happy childhood memories. One of them gave a beautiful yellow bloom. They also absolutely love the sun and I have to find a sunny spot for them. The ones I got 3 years ago are still alive (save for one). I hope they'll give me some flowers soon. 

I need to add more flowers in our garden to encourage more pollinators to visit. There are two large bees so far helping pollinate our tomato and bell pepper plants. We hope to encourage more to come and visit. 

Happy gardening everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

The Month of June

June is always set as a month to celebrate for us. Sweetie and Miggy's birthdays fall on the same month, so it's a month-long "cheat day" for us, haha. Oh! And we also celebrate Anakin's gotcha day.

I realized I haven't been posting my monthly one second a everyday videos, so I'm going to back-track and upload the months I skipped (March to May). Here's the one for the month of June -

The biggest highlight of the month was a day trip to Tagaytay. It's been three years since we went and we feel very lucky because the weather was good and there was barely any traffic (despite typhoon Francisco*).

Here's what I also accomplished for the month:

• Completed two sewing projects - a bag and a couple of Yoda-inspired coasters
• Finished doctor check-ups
• Went shopping with Architect Ed and cleared the rest of Mom's jungle
• Tomato plants started growing fruit! Also got to sprout orange seeds! 
• Survived the month without getting sick!
• Re-opened my kitchen and cooked Spanish adobo

It doesn't seem much, but when you're operating on a limited capacity reaching 1,000 steps per day is already an achievement. :)

*Thank you to my Papa Lolo for watching us when we traveled! He has the same name as the typhoon, so I felt he helped give us a reprieve so we can go out. 

#BeKind #StaySafe