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Showing posts from 2011

Holiday Season Crochet Marathon Part 2: The Loving Hugs Newborn Booties

My last post about crochet was the marathon of the Fingerless Gloves. I promised to post the Loving Hugs Newborn Booties next so, as promised, here it is... the making of a pair of booties especially for the baby of my officemate, Julie.  See the invitation personally made by Lee.   When we first planned about having a shower party, I immediately thought of making a pair of socks as gift. (Actually, I've been thinking of crocheting a pair of socks for months now. The desire came about the moment I signed up in Make Socks, a group initiated by Cheryl Isenberg in Stitchtalk, a sewing community. I joined the group hoping to be able to make at least a pair so that I could share it, but the project just brewed in my mind and has never materialized.) "Now is the time," I said to myself. I just thought crocheting a pair of socks would be a perfect gift for a baby shower.  So the first thing I did was to look for a pattern as I had none in my files. I had only a few d

El Baile en Mi Cusina: The Christmas Eve Show

What's up on Christmas Eve?  Well, my migraine had its toll on me. But good thing I was able to make reservations the previous night  thru text messages for my fish, chicken and veggie purchases from my favorite market vendors.  Surprisingly, there were still a lot on display at 10 o'clock in the morning!  I was able to take home salmon belly, boneless bangus, cream dowry, chicken lollipops and breast fillet, and veggies, of course. But those wouldn't have been complete without fruits so I got persimmon, pear, apple and honey melon. And the leche flan, of course, I almost forgot to mention!  And so the kitchen ballroom dance began… Maestro, music please...

Holiday Season Crochet Marathon: Part 1

Hello! It's been exactly two weeks since my last post. It's Christmas season and everybody is just too busy with gifts and gift-giving! While holiday shopping seems to be the only thing that matters for many this season, I ventured into a holiday crochet marathon which started more than a week ago.  I began the marathon by browsing over the patterns from my crochet files and the Internet. Since both Christmas and New Year's Day fall on weekends this year, we don't have extra days for vacation. No extended days off from work. That means less time for my crochet projects. :( Oh, how I miss my crochet hook after several months! For this year I thought of choosing easy-to-finish projects to be given as gifts for my friends. Last year, I gave away some USB / MP3 holders made by Ana Cristina, my younger daughter. (I have featured her works in my previous post .) But before I embark on my intended crochet give a ways, I already started running the marathon and finishe

Whose responsibility?

   "You are responsible for what others think of you." Can't remember where I first heard this quote--- from the preaching of a former Pastor, a Sunday School teacher or a former college professor? I couldn't recall anymore. :(      But the truth in this statement has since then reverberated in my mind. Is this dress too revealing? (Haha! As if there's anything to reveal afterall! :) ) What if I say or do this? Not that I fear what others might think of me for being the real me. I simply mean that it (the quote) should make us more cautious lest we be a stumbling block and others be offended by our actions. By actions I mean anything we say or do. When we get surprised, are amazed or in awe of something, we often utter words we don't really mean. Unknowingly we may actually be blaspheming the name of God with our expressions on those unguarded moments. The way we dress, our facial expressions, places we go to… virtually anything that would allow others to

Exploring the art of photo editing

     Hello everyone! Nice to stay home on a Wednesday (that's yesterday, a national holiday in the Philippines in commemoration of the birth of Andres Bonifacio, one of our national heroes). Yesterday, while browsing the Net, I incidentally explored the art of photo editing using free online photo editors. I have been so used to edit photos and do picture collage using Picasa but today I had a chance to use piZap, FotoFlexer, Photo Frames, Phixr and Paint.NET.      After taking on the challenge, here are some of my creations...  piZap

Dream Come True

Happy Saturday everyone! Why so happy? It's because I got my first blog article in Crochet Spot ! Crochet Spot is a site that talks about how to crochet and where you can find simply "funtastic" crochet patterns to work with. Founded by Rachel Choi, the goal of Crochet Spot is to provide easy to follow tutorials and crochet patterns. Now, you may click on this link to read an article I submitted as guest writer at Crochet Spot . The post is entitled, " From Umbrellas to Rainbows " . Featured at CrochetSpot.com See you again soon! :)   " Yet after brick and steel and stone are gone, and flesh and blood are dust, the dream lives on. " Anderson H. Scruggs Quotes

Marly, Betty and Me: Confessions in the Oven Chamber

     Sorry, this is not about the world's worst dog in the movie, "Marley and Me" which stars Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston with their family dog. Take note, it's Marly, a former nursing colleague who used to work in the same cardiac center where I work for 28 years now. Actually, I call her Ma'am Marly because she used to be a Nurse Supervisor and some (just don't know exactly how many) years  my senior, but I decided to drop the "Ma'am" in this post. Marly now works and lives with her family in California, USA. She left the Philippines about 25 years ago. Marly and I just got ourselves reconnected a few months ago through a social network and since then, we have discovered that we share something in common---our love for crochet. But no, I will not talk about crochet. I mean, not for now (though I really plan to post something about her crochet works another time).      So, if not crochet, what's it gonna be? Well, it's about th

Does it really run in the blood?

       Hi there! After posting about cooking and gardening as my introductory posts for the past weeks, this time, I'm sharing about another love of my life...crochet.       Twenty-one years of being a wife and mother not only made me close to cooking but also brought me back to crocheting, a hobby I had in my teens. I taught my two daughters how to crochet when they were in grade school but only the younger one prospered in the craft. Well, today, I can say that she has grown so much in terms of speed and tension and I admire her work.           So here, let me show you some of her own creations. 

The birth of a hobby

     Hello, it's been a week since I created this site. Last week, I posted about cooking. This time, I'd like to talk about how I became interested in plants.       When I was a child, my mother used to grow a lot of crotons and flowering plants around our house while my father and grandmother had their own vegetable gardens. I used to water the plants from our deep well but I never really learned to keep my own plants until 2003 when I had to take my parents from my hometown to live with my family in the city. Unlike Noah who brought along male and female animals into the ark, I had to pack some cuttings and seedlings in boxes which we carried with us to our residence in Manila. I believed that bringing along some plants would not make it very difficult for my then 79 year-old mother to adjust to city life.        The fondness to gardening came as a surprise only when I discovered that, like her, all the cuttings and seedlings I planted would grow easily without any hassl

Of grills and thrills...

Cooking reflects our relationship with God. The more you immerse yourself into it, the more you learn and discover exciting new ways of perfecting the craft. The better the outcome, the more you desire to share it with loved ones and friends. That's how it is with God... the more you spend time with Him, the more you get to know Him, His nature, and you discover His will in your life. The closer you become and the more truth you learn about Him, the more you desire to share with others.  Have a great day!!!

Once upon a blog spot

How this blog spot came about--- My eldest daughter is a blogger. Once in a while I would take a peep at her blogs and I'm amazed at how she manages to talk---errr, write about the details of various products she would buy and use. By the way, she's a registered chemist who blogs about beauty, make-up, skin care, fashion and food, loves everything pink and girly, and claims she's the type who allegedly wants to shop a lot without spending a lot. To contact her, you may email her at codenameaya@gmail.com. Now back to what I was saying, I get so amazed at how she would write about the nitty-gritty of what she likes or doesn't like in a particular product. The first time I read her blog, I said to myself, "She's got what I like---writing out herself into the open, into the world!" I have a few confessions to make about this. First, I must admit I was a bit surprised at how greatly she has improved her writing skills compared to when she was in high