Another Leaf Is Gone

Goodbye February, welcome March.

I just finished a lovely book last night entitled Water From My Heart by Charles Martin. This is how they introduced it at Goodreads.

“CHARLIE FINN had to grow up fast, living alone by age sixteen. Highly intelligent, he earned a life-changing scholarship to Harvard, where he learned how to survive and thrive on the outskirts of privileged society. That skill served him well in the cutthroat business world, as it does in more lucrative but dangerous ventures he now operates off the coast of Miami. Charlie tries to separate relationships from work. But when his choices produce devastating consequences, he sets out to right wrongs, traveling to Central America where he will meet those who have paid for his actions, including a woman and her young daughter. Will their fated encounter present Charlie with a way to seek the redemption he thought was impossible — and free his heart to love one woman as he never knew he could?”

I gave it five-stars. I was more interested in how life was described in Nicaragua. The spin of the story is so good. It’s more on family relationship, friendship, cut-throat competition in the business world and a love story too.

Charles Martin is one of the best writers I found years ago. I have read so many of his books and intend to find more.

February is almost at an end. Time flies, it’s been a year now since the lockdown and we’re still without vaccine, the only Asian country which seems to have no concrete plans for Covid 19. They’d rather hang streamers by sara duterte (daughter of their present president) to run next year. Pathetic!!!

Read Full Post »

Sunday, Sweet Sunday

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. We renew our baptismal vows and renounce satan. Our godparents did it for us when we were baptized when we were babies.

My goodness, it seems that blogging has temporarily lost its appeal for me. It’s been a while. I have been catching up on my reading. I found new authors, discovered some awesome books too. For the first time I read Blindness by Jose Saramago, an intriguing and interesting story about people who were struck blind in their community and how they struggled to keep alive. It reminds me of the pandemic we have right now. I also found a copy of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. His poems are like short stories complete with dialogue about ordinary things. I have finished 28 books so far this year.

Been busy too uploading our Catholic page and two more private pages of which I am one of the admins.

I took some photos of my garden blooms and trimmed some plants. It is almost summer and my plants are beginning to bloom again. Sometimes I water the garden twice a day because the last few days have been sunny and hot during the day.

We are all observing Lenten abstinence even if mom and I are already exempted from eating meat because we are seniors. One has to give up something too and alms-giving is also recommended.

Happy and blessed Sunday everyone.

Read Full Post »

Sunday, Sweet Sunday

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. We renew our baptismal vows and renounce satan. Our godparents did it for us when we were baptized when we were babies.

My goodness, it seems that blogging has temporarily lost its appeal for me. It’s been a while. I have been catching up on my reading. I found new authors, discovered some awesome books too. For the first time I read Blindness by Jose Saramago, an intriguing and interesting story about people who were struck blind in their community and how they struggled to keep alive. It reminds me of the pandemic we have right now. I also found a copy of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. His poems are like short stories complete with dialogue about ordinary things. I have finished 28 books so far this year.

Been busy too uploading posts at our Catholic page and to two more private pages of which I am one of the admins.

I took some photos of my garden blooms and trimmed some plants. It is almost summer and my plants are beginning to bloom again. Sometimes I water the garden twice a day because the last few days have been sunny and hot during the day.

We are all observing Lenten abstinence even if mom and I are already exempted from eating meat because we are seniors. One has to give up something too and alms-giving is also recommended.

Happy and blessed Sunday everyone.

Read Full Post »

Friday Thoughts

Yeay, it’s another weekend. February is running fast.

I’ve been remissed in my blogging updates again. I talked to several friends yesterday through Messenger. I met Maria Luisa several months ago when Sambuhay Interaktib started last year. She is living in Australia with her family. She took these photos of us while we were talking. We touched on so many subjects especially our families and the political situation here in our country.

It was so really nice to catch up with friends online.

Today is my adopted son’s birthday (anak-anakan in Tagalog). Fr. Lovell is still assigned in Iloilo and he does not go online often so we rely on texts which is easier.

Got this photo from their Dominican site. A former classmate in high school saw it and asked me to ask Fr. Lovell if he knows the parents of her son’s in-laws who she thinks are neighbors with Fr. Lovell’s family. The latter confirmed that they are close friends. What a small world!

By the way, I’m done with my 21st book for this year’s Goodreads challenge. Discovering new books and gifted authors in the process.

Have a happy and fruitful weekend.

Read Full Post »

Monday, Monday

Yeay it’s cold here even in this early morning. The Siberian winds are bringing this cold weather and we call it Hanging Amihan.

Again, I got lazy blogging. Sometimes it is better to just listen to music and I have been busy making memes for our two groups that I also manage. They are mostly religious in nature since both are Catholic sites.

Here’s one I’d like to share with you. I haven’t published it yet anywhere else. The photo was taken by Nissa in one of their road trips.

I think this was taken in Baler, Aurora province. Last year was the only time they didn’t plan a trip so they bought a new car instead. They are planning to transfer to their new house this year.

I am in the middle of reading Birdsong by Sebastian Falks. Finally, I found a copy. It’s been on my wish list for so long.

Imagine, it is already February. They call it the love month. The first leaf in the calendar is gone. Happy new month to us all, may it be better than last month.

Read Full Post »

Behind The Scene

We are almost in the middle of the month and before we know it, January is gone.

Oh my, I missed this blog for three days. Kind of not inspired enough to blog. And to my blogger friends, I am sorry for not even commenting on your posts. Trying to catch up.

I joined Goodreads Reading Challenge again this year. I committed myself to read another 100 books. It is really a challenge for me finishing that much for the year. Started with a historical novel, two books which are some kind of a series, a paranormal story and a thriller and courtroom scenes by Connelly. I found a book about dogs too. The cover was just too tempting because the pictures looks like our dog Noki. It’s my sixth read.

How are you getting along with this Covid environment? Funny how the department of health prefers the vaccine from china which is more expensive and not as effective. They are letting the local governments procure their own and the latter prefer Pfizer. I wonder if they’ll have enough facilities to restore those vaccines.

Read Full Post »

Thank God It’s Friday

I was looking for the maintenance crew of our subdivision if one  of them could help me with weeding outside our perimeter  fence but one of our neighbors said that the management of Midtown removed them.  I am willing to pay their daily wage. Sad, for the plight of those who really need help to make both ends meet.

So I started uprooting and weeding unwanted grass early this morning. It still needs a little improvement. I was able to  transfer some snake plants though. Snake plants are so costly here, around P250 to P300 per pot. Sometime last week,  a lady older than I am just uprooted some without  asking for permission.  I hate  it when people are so presumptuous, that is equivalent to stealing, right?  I was in the garden pruning some plants when she passed by. Years ago, we used to have climbing roses in that area but every time they bloom, some passersby even bring scissors to harvest the flowers. So annoying.

My news feed is full of  unwanted sites posting some titles of books listed this year as worth-reading.  Haven’t heard most of their recommendations. Even those which won at Goodreads are so unfamiliar to me. I have two books in mind though to cap  off the year 2020.

These have been on my TBR for more than a couple of years now. They’re next.  Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel which is considered as a classic of the Harlem Renaissance. A Wild Sheep Chase is my first book of Murakami.

Have a lovely and blessed weekend to all of you.

Read Full Post »

Rainy Wednesday

It’s raining again, that kind or rain that is light but it never stops.

We are under typhoon signal #3 and typhoon Ulysses is traversing the same path that typhoon Rolly did a week ago, some parts of the Catanduanes province in the Bicol region are now inundated, water almost reaching the rooftops of some houses.  God help us!

Supposedly, November is already our amihan season where the cold winds of Siberia bring colder nights to our shores. If not for La Niña which our weather bureau said will last till April, we won’t probably be having these late typhoons. Come to think of it, it is the 21st weather disturbance this year and we average about 18 to 20 every year.

Rainy nights (provided they do not bring flash flood) are a perfect time to read while sipping a hot tea in the process.  I went back to reading Charles Martin’s books, my 11th read since I discovered the author.

One thing that induced me to start this? It’s the cover and the title not even glancing at the synopsis of the book. I am fan of Charles Martin, a Christian author who writes such deeply memorable characters. And he blogs too  and I can truly relate.

How’s the weather in your neck of the woods?

Read Full Post »

How’s Your Sunday?

I got engrossed for a while reading two books by Lucinda Riley consecutively in the last five days and before that, another book of hers last October. Read four all in all.  Anyway, I am trying to find more authors to follow. When I get excited with a particular book and a particular author, I  tend to look for more of his/her works.

Yeay, I only just discovered watching music videos on Facebook and those previous episodes of Pilipinas Got Talent. I am not bragging here but when it comes to music, Filipinos are the best. From ages about thirteen to twenties, they’ve got it.  There was even this Filipino shadow artist who had  the stage lit up in gold when he got the Golden Buzzer. So proud of these talented individuals.

Yesterday, I posted a photo  at Facebook taken when I got sick several years ago which was also used by my friend ( a producer of GMA 7) in their episode 24 Oras (Magic ng Pasko) four years ago. I know I featured that video here when they had their shoot here at home and included a segment of my plight as a cancer survivor. It earned a lot of hearts and likes.

I remember Doc Julie, one of my medical oncologists At the UST Benavidez  Cancer Institute eleven years ago. Those days when a smile  meant a lot  to me at the lowest ebb of my life.

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 »