Say It With Flowers

It was a quiet quarantine birthday.  We just ordered food at home for lunch and dinner. I’ve missed Nissa’s family though. I was busy almost the whole day answering comments and greetings on Facebook and a couple of long-distance calls to boot.

I enjoyed reading all their messages. I guess that is how a quarantine birthday is celebrated. Since we can’t all go out, we just decided to stay at home.  I got a lovely surprise when someone called that he was at our gate, he greeted me a happy birthday first before delivering a big box from flowerstore.ph – a gift from Nissa. Wow! Took shots of how the day went.  It is quite touching to see  Mum smiling and lovingly touching those lovely blooms. She just love flowers.

Wohoo, that’s me at 64!

Look at the white hairs. I haven’t been to David’s for almost eight months now.

A boodle “bilao” (a big tray)complete with sisig, barbeque, tapa, fried chicken, chicken inasal and lumpiang shanghai plus a kilo of ready to fry veggie lumpia.

A birthday cake from Red Ribbon, a gift from Josef and Jovy.

Making a wish? Just for good health always!

Sunburst! A beautiful, cheery bouquet of two toned violet mums, pink carnations and a sunflower.

It came with this lovely birthday balloon.

Those carnations and mums are just so lovely.

How they look in our sala. I noticed the leaves that look like cuttings from Gardenia. Can’t wait to plant them soon.

So that’s how the day went. Glad to be 64 at last.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

64 At Last

Read Full Post »

A Few Thoughts Before The Year Ends

It’s just a matter of hours before I see another year of my life.  Since I started blogging, I made  it a point to at least write something about how the previous year ended  and the anticipation of how the next year will start.

It’s the eve of my 64th birthday. Wow, 64 is just a number, don’t you think? I don’t feel like I am.   I am reminded of the  upbeat song by the Beatles called “When I’m Sixty-Four” and it goes like this:

“When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine

If I’d been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty-four……”

 

There are more things one remembers during one’s birthday than just counting the years of  one’s life. First of all, we must be always grateful to our dear Almighty God  that we have reached a certain age still alive and kicking. Grateful too for all the blessings and challenges that made us even stronger through the years.

 

Birthdays always make us a little nostalgic, right? We remember the younger years. We remember the years slowly discovering what life is all about. We remember the happy times with family and friends, the struggle to live life the best way we can and the best way how.

 

This pandemic brought us a different perspective in celebrating birthdays. Gone is the anticipation  of having the  whole family around because  of this pandemic.  We still could celebrate, why not? But it may be not as grand as we used to have in the past. For me, a simple dinner at home would suffice. No need to prepare elaborate dishes. We are just  planning to order online. Besides, I am quite lazy to cook.  It’ll be a pandemic birthday, whatever that means!

 

“Send me a postcard, drop me a line
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine forevermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I’m sixty four?
Ho!”

 

Read Full Post »

Cookie At Two Months

I had the chance to take more  shots of Cookie early this morning. What a joy to catch her in different poses.

She is quite behaved here.

Practicing looking at the mirror….haha! Are you vain Cookie?

Clingy type. She always wants to be cuddled.

She has definitely grown. She is three weeks with us now.

Look at that fan-like fur. So smooth to the touch.

Would you believe that she cries when Jovy washes her face and her bottom.  She couldn’t take a full bath yet at her age.  Both she and Oreo have more shots last Saturday.

Read Full Post »

Lazy Friday

I got lazy again to do another post. So I broke my daily blogging goal which reached 50 posts since last month.

Would you believe, I was engrossed reading, finishing Charles Martin’s Thunder and Rain, an amazing book, excellent writing. The Christian aspect of the book through a child’s diary/journal to God was just so touching. This was followed by a rather short novel  by Janette Oke about  the new frontier, the wilderness in Alaska. David Whyte’s Consolations The Solace, Nourishment and  Underlying meaning of Everyday Words are several essays that started with the word Alone and ending with Work. It is a deep read that you need to think after reading a few lines. So I have to read it slowly.  I have started another book reading it in between  that of David Whyte’s book.  The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley spans four generations from the splendor of India to the majestic stately homes in England. It started in 1911, about India in the time of the Raj and  England during World War I. Have I told you before that I am always drawn to historical novels? This one is pretty good although I just started a few chapters.

May I ask again, what have you been reading lately?  Who is your favorite author?

Read Full Post »

When The Sun Shines Again

The sun is showing its face again but yesterday, typhoon Pepito brought havoc to some towns in Quezon. Some roads collapsed due to heavy rain waters  which overflowed from the rivers and rice fields.  Towns affected by floodwaters were Gumaca, Lopez, and Guinayangan. The flood waters reached  as high as chest-level.

Around this time the previous years, we were on the road to the Amihan season, where it seldom rained but it slowly got colder especially at night. The weather bureau said La Niña will stay with us till the month of April. La Niña  refers to the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. Typically, La Niña events occur every 3 to 5 years or so, but on certain  occasion, it  can occur over successive years. I hope by December we would no longer experience strong typhoons.  We were under signal number one yesterday and it rained all day.  We are just on the sixteenth weather disturbance and we average at least  twenty a year. It is during the months of November and December where strong typhoons occur.

Ah, I just smiled seeing the book I chose to read which I started the other day. It is entitled Thunder and Rain, another Charles Martin book.  I love the books of the author. When the prose is meaningful and poignant, you just can’t put it down.  The characterization tugs at you making you excited to  finish the book and maybe, just maybe start another one. I have read at least seven books by the author. He is that good.

I have a priest friend who said, “rain, a book  and coffee, perfect combination”. I agree but I prefer a spearmint and chamomile  tea on a rainy night.

I had a good chat with an online friend here who lives in Australia. It was her birthday yesterday.  I enjoyed our chat. Again, my birthday wishes to you Techie – good health, happiness and peace of mind. May you meet  more friends here through your lovely photo blog.

Read Full Post »

Getting There

Gee, this is my 50th day of blogging every day.

I know I could not duplicate blogging for a year like when I joined WordPress’ challenge back in 2011. It was called Post A Day Challenge. I even got my badge but I don’t know why it was lost.

Blogging every day? One thing I learned when you blog daily is that you might sacrifice your content just for the sake of writing anything. But then in the process, once you start writing, it is easier to update your blog on a daily basis.

I’ve been reviewing my earlier posts so I could share some snippets of them to one of my favorite one-hour online shows called Interaktib. I am glad they appreciate it and my priest friends call it inspiring. Fr. Pao even said last night that I am their resident poet. Haha, poet indeed, I could not even write a poem daily even if I want to. I am surprised though that my earlier blog posts were more about life, that we always have those challenges that we need to face. It’s more about my journey as a cancer survivor, a mother and grandma to my loving Nate. From time to time though, burst of inspiration comes along and sometimes I am more introspective, sharing something deeper than what we had for dinner, what book I have been reading lately and what the weather is down here.

One thinks of getting and growing older. Come to think of it, I’ll be celebrating my 64th birthday a week from now and again it makes me think of the younger years. Maybe, what they say is true that when gaining these added years to your life, you don’t really think of getting old though you gain wisdom as you go along. You think more of how life would be. Will you still enjoy those things that used to give you happiness and laughter? Would you be more focused in those things you’ve been doing lately? Will you just let life fly by and enjoy them?

One thing that I wish right now? I hope I could maintain writing every day until the end of the year.

Read Full Post »

ASAP Is It

As I have mentioned here  before, I don’t normally watch television but I listen to  the radio when I am gardening. 

I stumbled upon this  online vlog by Zsa Zsa Padilla, one of those artists who is a talented singer as well.  She is a natural in front of the camera, no wonder, she already earned two million followers on YouTube.  She is a mainstay of ASAP (All-Star Sunday Afternoon Party) but then last August ABS-CBN, the largest communications network here in the country closed its doors because their franchise was not renewed by this government. Anything that opposes it is shut down.

Yesterday,  ASAP which used to be carried by ABS-CBN  reopened in collaboration with another TV channel. Some programs are also now being carried by Zoe Broadcasting  Network which was re-branded as A2Z  TV.

Back to Zsa Zsa, she  posted their opening numbers at ASAP with various  artists singing a medley of Tagalog  and English Christmas songs which I used to listen to every Christmas season. I was mesmerized. Nabuhayan ako ng loob.  There is still  Christmas 🙂 How lovely to listen and watch them render those lovely melodies.  We don’t have Zoe channel so I watched it on my cellphone. So nice to be carried away by those entertaining and lively music. There is something now that I could go back watching and be inspired.

Read Full Post »

Happy Sunday

Read Full Post »

Are You Counting?

So this is the official Christmas countdown here in our country as I write this post. By the time  I’m done with this post,  those minutes and seconds have already moved.

68

DAYS

04

HOURS

50

MINUTES

22

SECONDS

It used to be that I start my countdown as soon as the BER months begin. This pandemic changed everything. It used to be that I was always excited to play Christmas songs and listen to those lovely melodies of old. By this time around in the previous years, I have already done my purchase of Christmas gifts to family members. I can’t think of items that would be easier to buy online since I have no intention of going to the malls and risking myself with Covid 19.

The truth is I am not really enthusiastic to do my own Christmas countdown except today for the sake of this post. I am not even thinking of bringing out the Christmas decor to choose which to use when December comes. Another effect of Covid 19. One thing that it brought me though is that I am able to attend masses online every day because almost all churches here go live from 6am until around 9pm. I could choose which mass to attend.

The Department of Health previously said that they have no intention of zeroing out those who were found positive of the virus. To each his own? We have reached more than 350,000 cases to date. They have acquired loans by the billions but until now, no concrete plans are in place. Where did the money go? They even changed the dates of our social security pension maybe without studying the repercussions of it. Mine was late for almost a month and so were the rest of the pensioners’s. Kawawa yung mga umaasa sa pension nila para bumili ng basic necessities at gamot.

This pandemic is surely getting to the nerves of everyone. How are you coping with it?

Read Full Post »