Sewing Suspended to Cook Salted Egg Chicken

My sewing time has been eroded by gardening activities. By the time I'm ready to sew I'm too tired, haha. 

It happened again yesterday since I had to rescue a plant and I had thawed some chicken to cook. I didn't want to disappoint Miggy, so I suspended sewing again.

Anyway, we ended up baking chicken and then cooked a portion of it as salted egg chicken and a smaller portion into buffalo chicken.

We got to use some produce from our garden. Fresh curry leaves and sili were picked from the garden. I'm happy we're able to do that with what we have in our garden.

Will post the recipe on Friday 🤗

#BeKind #StaySafe

Why You Should Install the Meralco App

If you're a Meralco customer like us, you should install their app. Here's why:

1. See your monthly bill even before you receive the paper version. Sometimes the bill is late or gets wet in the rain. I usually access it through the app.

2. Easily report brownouts/blackouts in your area. They actually call you about it and they call back to check when electricity is back.

3. Report issues and request for help easily. We recently experienced our electricity fluctuate again and since there were no issues in our internal system, the electrician advised to contact Meralco. 

Both times I sent a report last month, help came in less than 12 hours. Issue was resolved when the second electrician correctly diagnosed that the meter base was corroded. Meralco contractor came 5 hours after I reported through the app. They changed something in the meter at midnight and we haven't experienced any fluctuation since they fixed the meter.

4. If you manage multiple properties, you can add up to 5 accounts. It would definitely save you time.

5. Need to check and old bill? You can access previous months of old bills. 

There's probably a lot more things you can do with it, but I haven't gone deep into the app. It's helped me a lot in managing the bills and getting help when needed. I wish other utilities would have a similar useful app. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Pray for Peace

We've been watching the news about what's happening in the Middle East.

Praying for peace 🙏

#BeKind #StaySafe

How Many Plants Can One Sili Make?

More than a month ago, we got sili with our delivery. Sweetie used one and I set aside one where I keep free ketchup and hot sauce. Of course, I completely forgot about it and it was dry when I found it.

Two weeks ago I decided to open it and planted the seeds. I didn't expect much, but was surprised to see the seeds sprout in a few days. Oh wow! The sili was healthy to have produced so many seedlings!

So, that's how many plants one sili can make. Now I need a farm to house all of my veggies, haha.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made Salmon Lemon Cream Pasta

Second Friday of Lent and I decided to try making salmon lemon cream pasta. Part of my goal is to only have home cooked non-meat meals on Fridays.

I've wanted to make this dish which is my favorite Nono's dish. I haven't been able to order it the past few times I ate there and this pushed me to find a recipe. 

I think it turned out well. I'm glad I added lemon pulp to bring out the flavor. I also added a lot of spinach to make it healthier.

Yummeeh!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Got Our Paranaque City Provided Go Bag

Our HOA pinged informed us via group chat yesterday that the Paranaque City Hall was going to distribute one go bag per household. They went around before lunch today and Sweetie luckily heard them calling residents via megaphone to go out.

Contents of the go bag include:

• first aid kit
• flashlight
• Swiss army knife
• cotton balls
• whistle
• alcohol
• lighter

The first aid kit has some basic medicines, gauze, bandaid, antiseptic, scissors, and tape. 

We put together our own go bag last year and this is a good time for us to check the medications we included in the bag. We also need to check the emergency food and water we included. I completely forgot to write about the experience of putting together a go bag. I'll blog about it one of these days.

#BeKind #StaySafe 

40 Years Ago: EDSA People Power Revolution

I was 10 years old when the EDSA Revolution happened. Tito Ben called my parents in the wee hours of the morning and told us to stay home because something was happening. We listened to the news all day. The radio was permanently on an AM station because my parents were monitoring what was happening. 

As for me, I got busy learning how to ride my bike. I was progressing, but I was told to go inside when we started to see a lot of helicopters flying around (we're just a few kilometers from Villamor). Before classes got cancelled, our teachers asked us to compile newspaper clippings. My parents had several newspaper subscriptions, so I collected a huge pile.

Kuya was the only one allowed to go to EDSA. He went with a few neighbors. We celebrated when the dictator President Marcos and his family left. I was just a child, but I remember there was so much tension leading up to those 3 days. 

Things were tumultuous following the EDSA Revolution. The transition wasn't easy. As a child growing up during that time, we experienced a lot of school disruptions due to multiple coup d'etats. We had a lot of blackouts and I had to study by candlelight. 

Our parents fought for the freedom we enjoy today. Gone are the days when we're required to be home before sunset. Gone are the days you had to be careful with what you say. Gone are the days when you always feared for your life and the life of your loved ones. And that's why we should never forget what led to that fateful day that led to our freedom from a dictator. 

It is up to us to keep our democracy alive. It is up to us to push for progress and the best we can do as citizens is to vote for the right people to lead. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Piano Top Quilt Cover Progress

I've been working on this project a few times a week when I have time. I did a big push the past few days.

It's now 70+ inches of rainbow piano keys. I made it that way so it can waterfall on the sides. 

I wrangled with it last night. Sandwiched it with batting and pinned it. I'll work on my favorite part this week. Yay!

Sunsetting My Childhood Home

I dreamt I was back in my childhood home last night. I remember every nook and cranny of it since I lived there for almost 35 years. 

Sunsetting the house was very hard. It took more than two years to clear it. Mom kept telling me before she passed that she wanted us back there. After several consultations with architects and engineers, we decided to demolish the house.

We learned a lot about sunsetting an old home. The house was 55 years old, as much as all the materials used when it was built was still solid, the wires were already tried and there were a lot of leaks. The roof also was leaking even though I had it fixed in early 2022.

It was a long process that involved a number of professionals. We worked with several architects, engineers and a decluttering coach. Sunsetting an old house is something that's not taught at school. It's a long process and you have to make sure you work with people you can trust.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Happy Sunday!

I'm just resting for the last few hours of the day. I'm a bit tired from gardening since I'm preparing to re-pot some plants that are overdue for transferring. 

Have a blessed Sunday!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Front Lawn Landscaping 3 Months After

Three months ago we had our jungle-like front lawn cleaned up and landscaped. I told the landscaper we wanted something easy to maintain and some flowers.

The end result was a simple frontage. I was worried that it was a bit thin? Manong Henry reassured me it would grow and need pruning.

The last time the plants were pruned was in early December. We got busy, so we havent had time to let Manong Henry come over. I've been giving the plants complete fertilizer every six weeks and I spray it with neem oil sometimes.

Sweetie waters the plants everyday (I take care of everything inside) and he told me a lot of new plants have been growing. I fed the plants some complete fertilizer yesterday and was surprised to see a lot of new birds of paradise. The bushes also grew double from the time they were planted. 

We've also been asked several times about the pink flowers. They just keep blooming. They're called Panama rose and have been very easy to maintain. The white one is called pinwheel flower or Tabernaemontana. The birds of paradise have gone crazy. We will try to remove the ones growing in between the bushes...

Happy weekend everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Our No Meat Fridays Meals List

It's Kent again and one of the things we follow is fasting and abstinence on Fridays. More abstinence for me since I'm technically exempt. I still skip meat on Fridays, but eat proper meals since I have maintenance meds I need to take.

We are trying cook more of our meals at home as prescribed by the dietician. I'm still working on my stamina, so one of my Lenten goals is to make sure we only have homecooked meals on Fridays.

Thought I'd make a list of what we can prepare at home. Here's a rundown:

Baked Salmon in Lemon, Butter and Honey 

Baked Salmon Garlic Cream Cheese 

Pink Pasta with Scallops

Pasta al Telefono

Tuna Alfredo

Tuna Spaghetti 

These are just a list of the more recent ones I've made. We also sometimes make cream dory fillets, Juned's baked Mahi-mahi, fried bangus. I'm scared of frying fish, so I rarely do that. 

What do you usually eat for Lenten Fridays?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Cooked Spaghetti to Celebrate Titay's Birthday

Titay is my Mom's older sister. She's my second Mom. My Mom and Titay looked so much a like, I remember getting confused between them when I was a child, haha.

It's Titay's birthday today. I bet they're having a party in heaven right now with Titay's delicious lengua dish. I wish I askes her to teach me, but she did get to teach Miggy how to make her leche flan.

I just cooked spaghetti to celebrate. Here's how I made it: https://youtu.be/pOk2sBNkEp8?si=XK2PdXiksOhjxNwv

Yummeeh!

#BeKind #StaySafe

It's Lent Again

For a few weeks now I've been reflecting on what to sacrifice for Lent. One of the easier things to do is fasting and abstinence. I'm technically exempt since I have chronic conditions, but I'll definitely abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays. 

Pope Leo mentioned you can do the traditional way of fasting or abstinence. He suggested also, “an unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor.” With everything that's happening, it's truly hard not to talk back.

Fr. Tito Caluag in his homily today mentioned about working towards conversion. What can you do to change and be a better person for others. 

Both messages talk about being kind. I'll work towards that and I've also set a couple of sacrifices that would lead me towards better chances for healing.

Have a blessed Ash Wednesday everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

New Cart for Sewing Activities

Sweetie surprised me last week with a new "toy". He originally planned it for Christmas, but the store went on a long break. It became a pre-Valentine gift.

A few months ago, I mentioned to him that I was thinking about getting a cart. I wanted one to make it easier for me to bring around gardening stuff.

Well... It's too pretty to get dirty! So I said I'll just use it to gather materials for my sewing projects. It piles up and sometimes I have to go back and forth to complete what need. I can also use it to keep the materials on standby since I only store the excess when I finish the project. 

Thank you Sweetie 🥰 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Electric Cable Finally Raised

The Meralco app works! I've reported issues a couple of times and more often than not it's resolved immediately. One issue though has plagued us since 2021. 

The cable that connects our home to the Meralco post has been too low. Trucks that pass by always hit it and it was once damaged by the garbage truck. Our neighbor said it's been that way since the 80s. 

Meralco contractor fixing the cables

Anyway, the rainy and windy weekend probably loosened our connection again. Our lights kept flickering and a surge tripped the post. Our basement lights just died late Saturday night. 

The CCTV caught the moment. The garage light flickered brightly and burst. Good thing we have a working circuit breaker and the switch for basement lights automatically shut. Everything else was working properly.

Manong Caloy replacing one of our old solar lights (Photo by Sweetie)

Sunday morning we contacted our electrician. He promised to send someone on Monday. It was late evening when I submitted a report to Meralco via their app. 

Meralco's contractor came first thing this morning. They tightened the cable. Sweetie also asked the neighbor if their electricity was fluctuating. They tag teamed to ask the contractor to raise the cable and they did! Hopefully, it's now more secure and won't be hit by trucks. Yay!

The electrician also arrived shortly after the Meralco contractor left. He did a thorough check, changed the garage light and fixed a few more pending things on our electrical "to fix" list. Sweetie led all the fixes. Yay! Thank you Sweetie 🥰 

#BeKind #StaySafe

The Fort Pilar Miracle

I chanced upon a post by Ambeth Ocampo last week. He featured the Fort Pilar Shrine in Zamboanga City. It's a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Pillar. Before I visited it back in 2010, I heard that prayers are granted when you request for it during your visit.

Back in 2008, I caught a very bad strain of pneumonia. It was one of the hardest illnesses I faced in my life. My doctors frequently had my blood checked and one tumor marker, CA 125, was almost 3x more than normal. I remember when I got the result from a hospital, the staff member who handed me the result told me he was very sorry about the result. 

I knew the result was very serious because it's an indicator for ovarian cancer. My doctors though said it may also be because my body was still recuperating from pneumonia. While we were monitoring the issue, I kept praying and took every opportunity to visit churches known for miracles. 

Prior to my trip to Zamboanga City, I visited Kamay ni Hesus in Lucban. We attended the healing session of Fr. Joey Faller. I surprisingly had an appetite after the session. The next time my doctor checked the tumor marker, it had gone down to 2x than normal. I prayed harder for healing and I made sure to visit Fort Pilar when I got the chance to visit Zamboanga City.

After Zamboanga, I got to visit Iloilo City where I pushed to visit the Jaro Cathedral. I remember it wasn't on our itinerary and we were discouraged from going because it was being renovated at that time. We made it and I prayed again. 

Everytime I would visit a miracle church, I would always feel something in my heart. It's hard to describe, but it felt like it would beat differently like it had a charge of electricity going through it. I also always felt very calm after. By December 2010, the tumor marker was midway of the normal range. I was healed and it has not recurred. 

Believe. Have Faith. Keep praying. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Braved Re-Potting the Last of Mom's Orchids

To be honest, I haven't found the best way to care for my Mom's orchids. A number have gone to waste. I researched, followed what medium to use, watering, sunlight, pots etc, but nope, none have survived me, huhu.

When we transferred what was left of my Mom's plants, I found one small pot of dendrobiums. A millipede came out of the pot, so I quarantined it first. After that I gave it some rice water every once in awhile.

Eventually, I was surprised to see it grow new leaves. It's been four months and I finally had the courage to re-pot it. Mom used to put charcoal and coco husk in her pots, so I did that with some sphagnum moss. 

I carefully split in two. I read dendrobiums like smaller pots and doesn't like a lot of space. I also read that you should only re-pot it when it's filled up the pot. I tried to replicate the condition it was in so it's not stressed and doesn't die under my care.

It's been a few days and it's so far still standing. I'm debating whether I should remove the white skin. Mom used to have me remove it before. She said it suffocates the orchid. I'll try it next week and remove a bit next week.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Arroz ala Cubana

I noticed my tummy has been at ease whenever I eat home cooked meals. Miggy's dietician also said it's better for your diet and losing weight.

I've been making an effort to cook as much as I could. One of the easiest recipes to make is arroz ala cubana. I've been making this for years and it's best when you can pair it with fried banana.

I made one change this time. I used premium soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce. I noticed it was a bit salty while cooking, so I added some water and brown sugar.

Sweetie noticed the difference and he asked what I did differently. I said I used premium soy sauce. He said he liked it much better than the previous ones I made. Yay!

Note to self:

Ok to use premium soy sauce for arroz ala cubana but not bistek Tagalog 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Vintage Toy Pianos

Mom thought I showed some promise when I played with the toy piano. She enrolled me in piano lessons and my caucasian teacher came once a week. My first recital piece was "Old MacDonald (had a farm...)".

My teacher though I guess left, so he was replaced by my Ninang's cousin. She was very strict and would hit my fingers if I made a mistake. Of course, I quit.

It took almost a decade to get over my trauma. In met Ate Edith and I progressed really well. My recital pieces were "Joy of a Man's Desiring" and "Canon in D". I even had a trio. Ahh, those were the peak days of my musical era. I eventually got busy and focused on Miggy and my studies.

Now, I leave the piano playing to Sweetie. My big piano is with me, but badly needs tuning. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Absent

I was absent yesterday for my pulmo rehab. I woke up dizzy and I know things go bad when I force myself to get up if my sleep cycle is incomplete. My CPAP machine has been extending my deep sleep phase and when I'm woken up suddenly I get very dizzy. My alarm woke me up and I guess my body wasn't ready to wake up yet. 

To make up for my absence, I used my spirometer as usual and spent extra time doing some gardening. I re-potted some plants and gave rice water to select plants. I was planning to cook dinner, but my energy ran out. I'll just cook tomorrow and skip any heavy gardening. 

Oh well, that's my life nowadays. There are good days and there are bad. I just adjust as needed :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Ikea Trolley for My Sewing Stuff

I have a small sewing table and it's been littered with my sewing stuff. I need them close by since I reach out to them as I work on projects. It's been annoying though since I have to move things around when I need to use the sewing machine or when I need to measure fabric or when I need to iron. Yes, that's how small my space is for sewing. 

We went to Ikea a few weeks ago and I saw this circular trolley. It's about half of my old rectangular Ikea trolley. I intended the old one to hold my sewing stuff, but I found it too bulky, plus I could barely see the items on the second level. The trolley is PhP699 and I got one since I felt it would solve the clutter on my sewing table.

I built it myself. It was so easy to build since it didn't have any screws. Just plug and twist to screw it in. I thought it would take a long time to put together. I finished in a few minutes and had enough energy to clear my table. 

I moved the items based on frequency of use. I put the needles and pins on top with the pencils.

Safety pins and clips for binding and thread and bobbins on the second row.

The bottom houses my bobbin gadget and other stuff (I'm still fixing it).

I'm planning to re-organize my old trolley. I got a top cover for it since I plan to use it for ironing. I can just easily park it nearby and pull it out as needed. I love Ikea trolleys! I also got a utility cart for a bathroom. It makes it easier to pull out when the bathroom is cleaned, plus I used the old shelf to house my newer craft books from Booksale (shelf is now back inside my maker room). 

Happy sewing!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Firewalls have Ears and What You Can Teach Your House Staff

Anakin and Bailey probably felt I was getting anxious over the screamfest happening across our firewall. They had me go towards a "safer" area and calmed me down. Meredith also moved to a quieter area.

I was minding my own business and was watering my plants when the neighbors (helpers probably) started having a screamfest over sinampay. I guess it rained earlier when we were out and some of their newly laundered clothes got wet. I wasn't given a choice and had the misfortune of hearing the huge row that ensured. They threw hurtful words against each other. Words that I only usually hear from Batang Quiapo when the masters berate their assistants/helpers.

Oh boy, it felt like I was brought back to my childhood home. Our neighbor there had frequent screamfests too. We don't have helpers, but I grew up in a household that had a harmonious relationship with our angels.

Here's a few things I learned from my Mom about managing people. I also used this when I managed the team across the region.

1. Set responsibilities and expectations upfront. Define key results expected and how their work will be assessed.

2. Escalate issues as they come. Don't let it fester.

3. To resolve issues take a coaching approach so they realize where they can address the problem before it gets big.

4. Never use curse words or downgrade people.

5. Gambling is a big no-no.

6. Live within your means. Utang destroys relationships.

7. No gossiping.

8. Pray.

Good thing our other neighbor always brings good vibes. They have a baby so the mood is always happy. I transferred to that side to water my other plants. Grogu and Anakin followed and played with us. I'm so glad I have fur babies. They really help bring peace.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organizing

I think my brain is finally rewiring back to what it was before I fell into medical depression. Medical because it was caused by the health issues I went through. It happens especially to people who experience blood clots. That's what my doctor explained to me and we worked on my coping mechanisms. He discharged me reluctantly back in 2021, so I was on my own to cope. 

I told him I could do it and I didn't want to drink any additional medication since I have other maintenance meds. I felt it was numbing me, so with faith and the love of my boys, I fought back. I read that one tell-tale sign of depression is being disorganized. Clutter piles up and you just don't have the energy to fix things. It's overwhelming and one reason why it took two years to finish sorting and emptying my childhood home. 

I kept fighting. Rested when needed and rewarded myself whenever I achieved something. I feel I turned a big corner today. I cleared out my sewing table and organized my gardening table. These are my "work stations" where I am productive and get to clear my mind. As much as possible, I don't use my phone when I'm at my work stations. It helps ground me. 

Little steps for healing and I'm happy I achieved something today. It's just small pockets of a bigger mess, but at least something moved today. I still plan to tackle my bench box later (it's where I keep my journals). Will see, if I have too much fun sewing I'll do it tomorrow :)

#BeKind #StaySafe