Tuesday Comes

6:30 am is still dark and cold. It ‘s only Noki who is outside in the garden. Waiting for the water to boil for my morning fix of either coffee or tea. I don ‘t use sugar anymore with my morning cup of coffee, I use a small packet of green Stevia instead. Just perfect for two pieces of rich tea biscuits. I wanna learn to drink coffee without sweetening it. Nissa says it is easy to adjust.

I blogged about my Insulin plant a couple of days ago and posted a photo at my garden blog. Would you believe, it produced two more flowers and another is about to show its face. For three consecutive days now, I eat the leaves raw. Just need to wash it well. I don’t even use fertilizer, chemical or otherwise so it is safe to eat fresh. Some people boil the leaves for tea. I haven’t tried it yet.

Saw some previous posts years ago that were visited by some viewers. I clicked the comments button and there appeared my online friends here on WordPress who have stopped blogging, many as long as three or two years ago. They have vanished and simply stopped blogging.

I agree that creating content is hard enough especially when you haven’t written anything for a long time. Although you have lots to write about, you don’t know how to start. That happens to me most of the time when I am hooked reading and blogging goes to the back seat. Now that I am blogging every day, it is somehow easier to write.

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Rainy Tuesday

I went grocery shopping early today at a supermarket in our town. All I could manage were two heavy bags of groceries and they’re not complete. I’ll just buy the rest at the grocery store just outside the gate of our village.

The prices of basic commodities have definitely gone up and we could not do anything except close our eyes and buy them. Price of eggs goes up every week. I wonder why. Inflation rate has gone up again last month. It seems the present government is not doing anything, more than a month in office and we don’t see future plans for the economy. Where are we going Philippines?

It is raining again, that kind that takes so long to stop. My rain lilies are blooming. I am including a photo here.

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Gardening

I recently updated my gardening blog at GARDENS AND EMPTY SPACES (arlene1027.wordpress.com). I posted some garden blooms and my new finds there. You may want to visit it. Thanks.

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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.

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The Beauty of Gardening

After the heavy rain last night, my garden is happy. Good thing I transferred my six  pots of Adenium in the shade so they were not saturated. They love the sun and require once-a-week watering.

I have dwarf Snake plants in a big rounded pot but they have grown so I transferred some of them direct to the soil. Put some in bigger pots and I had one planted in this little vase to put inside the house.

Do you know that “the Snake Plant cleans air better than most other indoor plants as it has the ability to absorb excessive amounts of carbon monoxide? Additionally, it emits oxygen and filters other toxins from the air such as benzene, xylene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde”.

A few days ago, I harvested green chili peppers and left two to ripen. They just did and I planted them today. We use these for our famous “sinigang”.

The beauty of gardening!

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Excited

Oh my!

This is exciting!

I finally got the Adenium seeds I ordered from Lazada. Just a trial if it would grow. When they do, I will order some more with multi-colored blooms. There is a bonus of three Sunflower seeds in the packet.

Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed they would all thrive. I planted them in small plastic pots.  Our compost pit is a big help. The pulverized leaves which turned into rich soil  has a lot of earthworms. Yeay 🙂

I found a page on Facebook called Adenium Growers of the Philippines. My, but they have lots of seedlings in different parts of the archipelago and like the grown ones with large caudex,  they are quite expensive. They can even ship to several places but the shipping fees are also sky-high. Grafted ones are the best. They could combine several colors in one plant.

Wish me luck please.

Oh, the drizzle  has just stopped. Just enough to water the grass and my plants.

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What’s In My Garden?

Six months of lockdown. Whatever you may call it, we’ve reached six months of quarantine.

Home-based small businesses  have suddenly sprouted in the metro and most of them are selling food – cooked  for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you’ll have it here. Even small- scale selling of meat, poultry and vegetables have also suddenly grown. The thing is, as long as we remain in the comfort of our home and we don’t go out unnecessarily, it’s okay. So long as your neighbors in the subdivision deliver for free, it’s okay. For those you can’t buy nearby, there are always vendors who charge for delivery fees and you can just wait for your orders.

Yesterday, I ordered several kinds of dried fish and today my order of Gyoza from David’s Tea House arrived. A few days ago I also ordered several items from Lazada including a desk fan and some gifts for Nissa’s upcoming birthday.  Online transactions are the “in” thing nowadays although I only use cash to pay them all. I am afraid to use my credit card without seeing my purchase in advance. I haven’t been to the mall for more than six months now. Bank transactions are online too except when I need cash and I let Josef  withdraw some money from the ATM.

I am taking photos of my garden blooms almost every day, documenting every bud and flowers worth-capturing.  Gardening has suddenly boomed here. Never mind if some have started a few pots and they call it a garden. I just smile seeing friends suddenly interested in nurturing a few plants. Even if these are not indoor plants, they place them in one corner of their homes. Not all plants could thrive indoors, they need the sun to grow.  There  are indoor plants that help us in lessening the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are indoor plants that are anti-oxidants.

Ah, these are my green peppers. I  am waiting for some seeds to mature so I could replant them.

Look, one is about to ripen.

 

We use them for our famous sinigang. They are also called green chilies.

I have transferred my Adenium seedlings to pots several months ago. I have grown them from pods  from my lone Adenium plant. They need the sun so I transferred them to a sunny spot near our grotto.

It’s nice to see these plants thriving well. I wonder if they will bear the same pink flowers later on.

I hope everyone is COVID-free. This pandemic doesn’t choose its victims. I wonder when it will die a natural death. Praying for our safely.

 

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Sweet Sunday

It didn’t rain yesterday and the sun is shining brightly this morning. Took advantage of it and gardened for a while. The squash I planted didn’t grow well, the leaves are yellow and have holes in them so I removed the plant this morning. I cultivated the soil, removed some weeds and arranged and replanted some of my prayer plants growing side by side with the squash before.

I have plenty of Crossandra seedlings growing at the back of the house, they are self-propagating. I transferred  some of them to the area where the squash used to be. When they bloom, the orange flowers are lovely.  The rain lilies are flowering too. I only have the pink ones, I wish I have other colors. Wonder of wonders, my lone Kamuning plant is flowering again with that lovely scent close to Gardenia and Jasmine. I am thinking of transferring  some cuttings in a pot then plant them later direct to the soil when they have sturdy roots.

Though I wear gardening gloves,  sometimes I prefer my hands bare. It feels so nice when you can cultivate the soil with bare hands and you can arrange the plants nicely.  There is something incredibly satisfying about getting your hands in the dirt and watching your garden grow as you nurture each plant.  Blisters, scrapes and cuts, not to mention the soil embedded under  your nails.  Gardening is not what it would be without getting your hands dirty. Do you agree?

Starting early and finishing the task before catching up with the 8am Sunday mass online. Happy and blessed Sunday folks.

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Hope For The Flowers

“How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

Posted this photo before. Nate’s visit at the Butterfly Garden in one of their trips in Baguio. He can’t even go out of the house now but he is happy being with his Mom everyday.

 

Caught it while we were about to leave for Manila  years and years ago. Taken in our garden in Pangasinan.

 

 

One of those lucky days in the garden.

 

Look, it was inside the house.

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A Butterfly Garden

 

Nate And His Butterflies

Have you ever tried catching a butterfly with your hands?

You can’t, right? Unless you use a butterfly net to catch one.

Let Nature be their friend.

Let them free,

Before you know it,

They might land somewhere near

And you’ll be able to admire their shapes, colors, and the

designs of their wings.

There are so many plants that butterflies love.

They have very short lives.

Enjoy them while they fly.

 

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