Caterpillars have been Eating My Calamansi Plants

I've been trying to grow veggies the past few years. All the greens I tried to grow are gone. My Calamansi project started in September 2023. It took time for the seeds to sprout and now I have several of them growing in bigger pots. I placed them in two areas of our home to ensure they grow. 

I have so far managed to keep them from dying. I spray Neem oil weekly and feed them fertilizer every other week. Biggest pest for my calamansi are caterpillars. Some grow so big they finish all the leaves! Luckily, the bigger plants survive, but some smaller plants don't, huhu. 

I researched companion plants for citrus fruits. They supposedly help ward off pests. You can plant marigold, basil, lavender, peas, tomatoes, chives, garlic, and fennel. I got marigold seeds, but haven't had the chance to plant them. My basil, lavender, tomatoes, chives and garlic all died. One thing that is left standing are my fennel plants (was sold to me as dill!). 

Plant on the right had fennel in the same pot.
Left plant didn't, so all the leaves are gone!

Anyway, since it's been so easy to grow fennel, I just cut off some and planted it beside my calamansi plants. After a few weeks I noticed that the leaves of the calamansi plants  started growing bigger. Those that didn't have fennel were continued to be pestered by caterpillars. 

Leaves slowly growing back after I added fennel to the pot.

I have since added fennel to the rest of my calamansi in the pocket garden and they are slowly growing new leaves to replace those eaten by caterpillars. Yes! Now I can focus on making sure they are fed well and hope they'll finally produce fruit by next year!

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Habemus Papam! Long Live Pope XIV

We were watching something on YouTube when Sweetie saw a post that said white smoke have come out of the chimney. It was past midnight already, but we decided to wait for the revelation of the new Pope.

As a Filipino, I was hoping it would be Cardinal Tagle. I avoided watching or reading any news about "Pope-ables". I told myself it's best to let the Holy Spirit guide the Cardinals.

When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was introduced as Pope Leo XIV, I felt some disappointment, but I told myself God chose him for good reason.

I heard from a discussion when the Conclave started that the name a new pope Chiara reflects his goals. I immediately looked up what Pope XIII was known for and one of the things he did was create the prayer to St. Michael. It's a prayer for protection against evil and the devil. From that alone I understand why Pope Leo XIV chose this name. 

EWTN also mentioned that Pope Leo XIV is from the Augustinian order. I'm happy about that because I was born on the feast day of St. Augustine. It is a huge reminder for me to cling to my faith amidst all I'm facing. I prayed hard for healing when Pope Leo XIV gave his blessings (with additional prayer to Pope Francis for his intercession). 

I wasn't able to see when Pope Francis was revealed as the new pope. I was busy recovering back then from heart surgery. It would be interesting to see where Pope Leon XIV leads us all.

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Throwback Thursday: Childhood Toys and Clips

I was so happy when I found my Barbie collection. I lost hope that I'd still find it, but I knew Mom kept it for me. I was probably in high school the last time I brought out my collection. I boxed them all up and kept them on the upper shelves of my room. Years passed, I moved out and I knew it was just there. 

It took awhile, but they finally showed up. My 12 Barbie dolls, the bed, and all their clothes. Since the collection wasn't moved for decades, it accumulated a lot of dust. I cleaned the bed and the clothes first. I was happy to see the bed was still intact with little repair needed for the linens. 

Washing the clothes took awhile, apparently I have a lot! Good thing I had the dolls wear homemade clothes because their original clothing are still intact. I giggled when I saw the clothes I tried to make. I think it was the reason why I stuck to quilting, I couldn't get the logic of making clothes (except skirts!). Mom made a few and they're still beautiful. I'll make a proper photo shoot of the clothes when I have time. 

Together with my Barbie stuff were my clips from childhood! I had very short hair back then and my Mom would just clip them on me. I think it's a Goody set. Looks like I didn't use it that much, so I just took a photo and sent it for donation. Hope a baby girl would be able to use it more than I did :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tried "Onezo" at SM Bicutan

There's a number of new cafes and milk tea places at SM Bicutan. Onezo, located at the top level of building B across the food court, opened a few months ago. 

We finally tried it today. I got Okinawa milk tea, Miggy got panda milk tea and Sweetie got his usual oolong tea. I usually get less sugar for my milk tea, but the order taker said, "Di pwede yan". She seemed to be going through something so I just ordered and left the boys to finish their order and pay. I already had a bad experience at Mercury Drug and didn't need the additional stress, so I sat down to wait.

We got our drinks for takeaway since we had to go home to water the plants. Anyway, I found the Okinawa milk tea too sweet after I took a sip on the way home. I added more ice to water it down. Miggy said the sago was soft and the MT was okay. Sweetie's oolong tea was just okay too. 

I guess we'll be sticking to our usual.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made a Card Holder for Bulky Rewards Cards!

While sorting my Mom's stuff I found the hand sewn wallets I made when I was a child. Mind you, I actually used them in school (not much to put inside anyway!). I giggled when I found it and I'm lucky I couldn't find the photo of the project because it was obviously the work of the child who was only starting to sew, hahaha (I honestly don't know why my Mom still kept it!). 

Anyway, I needed a card holder. Those rewards cards from shops accumulate and I couldn't close my wallet anymore. I had some scrap fabric from a previous project and so I decided to use it for this project. It was easy to make and I'm happy I now know how to make a holder with several compartments. Here's how I made it -

Easy peasy as long as you understand the logic for folding the fabric. If I put my mind to it I could probably make this as a Christmas gift. If you'd like to make it, you can check out the tutorial on my sewing blog.

Now I need to check what other cases I need for my stuff :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Finally Reduced the Heat in Our Home

I monitor the weather closely because heat is my kryptonite. Temperature above 30'C hits differently for a person with heart and lung issues, so you can just imagine what the 40+'C heat index does for me. 

My comment got featured on Architect Ed's channel, hehe.

We have been working on reducing the overall temperature in our home in the past 3.5 years. We chose unobtrusive solutions since we live in the house. We did the following:

• Tinted windows - https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2022/04/home-improvement-reducing-heat.html
• Added vents in the eaves
• Installed whirly bird/whirlwind vent - https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2023/04/home-on-mondays-whirlwind-vent.html
• Added ceiling vents and one more whirly bird on the kitchen roof - https://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2024/03/make-your-home-cooler.html

I just realized we've been trying to do something annually since we moved. Well, my heart and lungs are in really bad shape, so we had to try again another unobtrusive solution. Sweetie was working on a project to get his childhood home's roof fixed and chanced upon a provider that specializes in painting insulation paint on roofs. 

So that's what we tried this year. We discovered our roof needed restoration. Parts of it had started to rust and the gutters didn't have gutter guards. After fixing the roof, insulation paint was placed. We had it done in mid-March and the roof temperature was at 36'C before restoration started. 

The roof temperature went down to 26'C. Not bad and leaving our windows open during the day made it easy to walk around the house even without the fan on. I had happy days cooking in the kitchen before summer started. The temperature inside our house has improved a lot compared to last summer. The heat though is crazy and I usually go straight down to the basement during the day to avoid the heat.

If you want to try this solution, just buy insulation paint at Wilcon and get a painter. It requires 2 to 3 coatings (dry a day between coatings). Best to get a roof specialist if you need to restore your roof. From our experience some regular contractors don't really know what they're doing. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

May the Fourth Be With You and How My Yoda Collection Grew

It's "Star Wars Day" again and we'll definitely watch the new episodes of Andor. We always watch Star Wars related films as a family with Miggy as our guide (he's also read loads of books so understands a lot about it better than me). And maybe we can watcha movie or two as well since it's easily accessible on Disney+.

I was really thrilled a few years ago when we were able to visit the Yoda Fountain in San Francisco. There are only two in the world, SFO and Singapore. Of course, Sweetie brought me to see the one in Singapore as a surprise.

I have been fascinated with Yoda since I was a child. I got to watch the films in the theater with my siblings (I was their ticket to be able to go out, hahaha). And that's why I collect Yoda (and now Grogu) figures. 

It did start with just one. Hadi had a brilliant idea to join an office contest. We had to decorate our area. I was travelling and was just surprised my desk was decorated with Yoda figures and colors. The Yoda figures stayed and people started to give me anything Yoda. 

Majority of my Yoda and Grogu figures and toys are gifts. I've kept all of them since they are precious gifts of love. You just gotta love the little, big guy 😁

Have a nice, blessed day everyone.

#BeKind #StaySafe