MY BACKYARD, MY HAPPY PLACE

​This backyard had gone through a lot of transformations; it has always been a work in progress; but now I’m liking what I see. 

It has become my happy place that it always beckons me when I’m indoors. 

This picture on the storage shed sets the tone of the day; a reminder that it is a pleasure to be alive; to smile, to laugh, to eat, to love, to dream.  It truly reflects our sentiment every time. 

It is really a wonderful life! 

The garden is a breakfast nook

A place to share coffee with a friend 

An entertainment area or a garden party

Being in the garden gives me a fabulous vibe; when the weather is fine, I love to sit under the mango tree and read, browse through Pinterest, compose my blog or crochet the time away. 

Jim loves to sit under the umbrella to watch videos or just listen to Spotify on his iPad or just be. 

Aside from plants, I like to put unique items I already have. I know this is not a garden decor for everyone; but I just thought it will give it a playful edge. 

This grouping of jars under the prolific calamansi tree is the first view of the garden as we approach. I thought I’d put them just so. 

The “pang bayo” or “ pang dikdik) looking like a baseball bat, a giant pestle was just sitting somewhere to rot, so I painted it yellow and it brightens the corner, don’t you think? 

The orange ball is a water tank floater in its previous life. And that old garden light, not working anymore brought from our previous home made up that corner. 

A pot of alocasia is flanked by two big shells that came from Jim’s ancestral home.  

The white basket on the ivy/covered wall came from a neighbor who discarded it. It had violet stains on it; it  contained mangoustine, so I painted it white. 

The hanging yellow fish used to hold a big smoked salmon gifted by a friend one Christmas party years ago. It had a natural finish but I felt it would call attention better if it’s yellow. 

Across the garden sat my old green bowling ball; visitors often mistake it for a watermelon. 

I’m sure in every home, there is that happy place where we can relax and be ourselves. If there is none, I’d say create one: be it in the front lawn, the backyard or even the balcony; anywhere that can be turned into a happy place to enjoy anytime. 

As the song popularized in the 90’s goes: 

“don’t worry, be happy”. 

MY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY

​I chose to have a quiet birthday celebration with my family; we dined in. Well, I say “dined in” because we didn’t go to a restaurant but dined outdoors, in the garden. 

I practically cooked the whole day but it was fun. I shared on Facebook as I completed a dish. Early in the morning, I browned the marinated beef for asado and let it simmer until tender. 

By noon, the cabbage rolls were done too

I prepared the puttanesca sauce after lunch, boiled the pasta and put them together before dinner. It was extra flavorful since I put three fresh bay leaves from Rotterdam. 

Last but not least is the favorite of all, the ensalata 

Caprese; the cheese was so creamy, it can only come from Amsterdam where they make the creamiest. 

My older daughter brought me my Ube (yam) birthday cake. What a coincidence, it matched my dress!

My son, vacationing in Sydney with his family FaceTimed. 

Then time to blow my birthday cake.

After dinner, my younger daughter also FaceTimed. There she is in the photo below with her husband. For every family occasion, we message early to greet with a promise “to call

Finally when the night was winding down, my sister in the US also called.  Early on she already greeted me on Facebook with lots of our. 

It was  the best kind of day, I thank everyone for making it a day to remember. Your greetings and well wishes were numerous, it felt overwhelmingly sweet. 

As I live my 77th year, the sun keeps rising and setting. The years go by and I keep breathing. Life goes on…,.

CROCHET TIME

​I’m back to one of my favorite hobbies, crocheting. I thought I’d make glass covers just like this

This is how I started the motif following written instructions of vintage design that I found online. This design is called Queen Ann’s lace. 

Here I completed that motif below:

Since I am more inclined to outdoor dining lately; I thought I’d need these to protect cups and glasses from being exposed to the elements. Just like these. 

Notice the colored pearls I attached; they are not just ornaments but they keep the cover in place so that the outdoor breeze would not take them away. 

I got this bright idea of glass covers from Dolly, one of my walking buddies. She served us cappuccino one day after our 10,000 steps.  I was attracted to water glass 

cover like the photo below:

Today, I completed a dozen; 6 each of my dining color palette, yellow and blue. Look at these:

Do you find it interesting? I feel good having made them myself. 

COOL DOWN BREAKFAST AFTER 10,000 STEPS

​Today seemed like my turn to make breakfast for  two of my walking buddies, Dolly and Josie. They have been generous the past two days that they alternated preparing breakfast for the three of us. 

I planned a casual breakfast but put in a bit more effort to fix my table setting. I think it looks okay for a simple cool down chat after 10,000 steps and doesn’t look like over the top  

I served my cucumber-pineapple-honey-lemon concoction, French toast sprinkled with powdered sugar and two thin slices of bacon. 

Oops! I forgot to set the fruit dish

Those are slices of ripe papaya and dragon fruit. 

I was doubly happy that Jim joined us and kept the conversation going; not that we would run out of topics to talk about. Thanks Jim for entertaining my friends. 

We had a nice relaxing time as we finished our drinks and lingered over coffee. 

Before we knew it, it was almost 9; time to get on with our chores as we are all homemakers. 

ALFRESCO ENTERTAINING

​Alfresco entertaining means dining outdoors. It is an Italian phrase that we have become so familiar with. 

Entertaining outdoors is a one of the most enjoyable places to share a meal, a snack or just coffee or tea with family and friends. 

Nitz and I share some red fruity hot tea. 

Our son’s recent visit after missing him for 2 1/2 years due to pandemic 

My sister Annie’s visit last month

Enjoying matcha green tea latte with BFF, Tess

Recently when the pandemic started to wind down we did a bit of entertaining in the garden. 

Former colleagues and friends forever decided to visit us. 

The advantage of dining in the garden is that we have a ready-made backdrop of plants, no need to do much but make the table setting more interesting. 

Alfresco dining is meant to be casual but I always like my table dressed up more than casual but still simple

Last week we invited Butch, one of Jim’s BFF and our dearest friend, Nitz. 

“Why are you going out of your way to make an elaborate table setting?”: Jim asked. “It’s only Butch”, he said.  But I wanted to make it nicer than ordinary; besides I want to use my Orla Kiely tablecloth. 

That’s with Butch and our great friend, Nitz. 

Alfresco parties are fantastic, we can enjoy food and conversation and also have fresh air and sunlight or moonlight depending on the time of day. Moreover, there are the sounds of the birds chirping and the leaves rustling  in the light breeze. 

Nowadays, our calamansi tree is in bloom, I just can’t get enough of the sweet and fruity smell of the flowers I almost can’t leave the garden. The only thing lacking  is good company, though jim and I enjoy breakfast and often afternoon snacks outdoors. 

my walking life

​While waiting for my “next big thing” after my retirement, my younger daughter suggested that meanwhile I do the ordinary things. I didn’t know then that this ordinary thing can be great. 

So I started to do the ordinary, I went walking everyday. Initially I set my goal to 5000 steps but realized soon enough that it is the average walking activity of most people. So I upped my goal to 10,000 steps. 

After walking alone while praying the rosary, thanking The  Lord for my blessings, I started to meet some nice people. I make friends easily by nature and I met Tess often; she walks with me two blocks while she cools down from jog and we learned that we are neighbors. 

At the height of the pandemic, we were just walking on our street when her flights to Rotterdam were cancelled three times. Little did I know that I’ll make one of the greatest friends I’ll ever have. I miss you Tess Schotel!!

Part of the time she stays in Rotterdam but when she is here, we walk and cool down with her power drink in her beautiful home, sometimes even breakfast 

When I walk alone, I meet friends. I thought it was a coincidence when I happened along Josie walking alone; she was new in the community then. I realized that she was also sent my way to be one of my walking buddies. 

Of course there’s Liza who walks with the guys, “the oldies but goodies”. When she’s alone, we walk together. 

There’s also Risa, Juliet, Roda, Lona, Easter, husband and wife Mar and Mellie, Lito and Rency, Nestor and Amor. There’s Bing who used to offer coffee as I pass her home until I asked her to walk with me along with her neighbor, Cynthia.

From left: Josie, Tess, Risa and I posing on International Wonen’s Day. 

When the regulars don’t walk, I find myself walking alone; greeting acquaintances as I pass by; we share a smile and a word or two. Even maids and drivers working outside also greet me.   

Today I met Dolly. I’ve been seeing her walking as well but this morning she chose to walk with me. I welcomed the company while we made the getting-to-know-you conversation. I find her nice and I’m sure we will have wonderful mornings walking together with the others.  

I’ve adapted a friendship mantra from a kindergarten nursery rhyme:

“Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold”.