No Excuse

Wherever we look, we see proof that there is a Creator, a Master Painter displaying His magnificent work around us.

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful that we were able to go for a family picnic during the weekend. It was rather a spontaneous decision but it worked alright for all of us.

I'm thankful for marrying a family-man who does not only understand the value and importance of spending quality time with our children but also takes delight in it.

I'm thankful for my children who has learned to find contentment in simple things and appreciate the beauty of nature and respect it.

I'm thankful for public parks and places where we can enjoy relaxing time watching birds flying by and feeding fish in the lake.

I'm thankful that amid busyness and mounting concerns, I'm not only staying sane but also having peace within.

Only God can give me these things so my thanksgiving is for Him!

Lantana: My Childhood Flower

It's scent is not pleasant but it brings back happy memories of my childhood. This flower used to fill my basket during Flores de Mayo or May Flower Festival where we throw flowers in the air and sing songs of adoration to God. It was a religious ritual brought by the Spaniards to my home country. I was too young to understand the meaning then but the feeling of being part of a community (of children) doing the same thing was satisfying and it comes back whenever I smell the scent of this flower.

How about you? Do you have a childhood flower?

To pick a flower is so much more satisfying than just observing it,
or photographing it ...  So in later years, I have grown in my
garden as many flowers as possible for children to pick.
-   Anne Scott-James

A Command, Not An Option

How often do you easily panic? You are like those men on the boat with Him that stormy night.
You are not asked to be still, you are commanded to. It is hard, isn't it? So take this word again as a command from Him who calmed the sea with the same words, and you'll see that He is God who could do miracle by calming your heart.

I'm preaching to myself here.

Sowing Seeds

Let me wrap my week up with a label "Sowing Seeds". That's basically what I was doing the whole week! Sowing seeds unsparingly in my garden and in the hearts of my homeschoolers and students.

I love sowing seeds because of the feeling of anticipation that goes with it. I enjoy watching the process of growth. As I do, I also cultivate my heart to be hopeful and patient. Well, the whole process of gardening makes my heart glad.

I don't know what is it in gardening that makes my heart fall in love with it. Perhaps because it runs in the blood. My great, great, great grandparents were created in the garden because their Maker knew so well that it would be the place where they are most satisfied and would be drawn closest to Himself.

If you look closely to the picture on the right, you'll notice that I was showing my students the different parts of a plant.  So even in my classroom, as I sow seeds of knowledge, the gardener in me is still at work!

I wonder what kind of men these boys in my class would become? So while I can, I sow seeds of knowledge and keep that hope in my heart that these knowledge will grow into wisdom once applied in their lives.


In my previous post, I shared about my visit to my friend's farm. They have mulberry trees bearing fruit which is delightful to butterflies and birds. So I brought home a few cuttings (twigs about 5 inches long) and planted them on a pot.




Here it is after 2 months of waiting! Yesterday, I transplanted 2 surviving cuttings into one big pot and put it on the side of our terrace.  I can already see a fruitful bush regularly visited by butterflies and birds.

Speaking of birds, I want to show you the new residents in my garden: Lemon and Lime, the seed-eaters. They're caged :( but they are placed under a pomegranate tree so at least it feels like a natural habitat for them. 

( This is my entry for Camera Critters and Mellow Yellow. )

Another residents are the living creatures in the nest on the sweet sop tree by the garden. You can imagine how thrilled we were when we first heard them chirped one early morning. Their parents would fly down and get food from my garden. I don't mind them eating the seeds I've sown. They're just seeds I can readily replace.What I'm more mindful of are the seeds sown in my children's heart.

I guess, aside from being a gardener and a teacher, I'm more of a mother farming in the hearts of my children.

Before the seed there comes the thought of bloom.
-   E. B. White

Bridal Bouquet

White Roses. How simply elegant for bridal bouquet!

My niece has good taste. She made sure everything in her wedding was the best. (See more  photos of the bride here and of the ceremony here.)

I know, Michelle is still in the dreamland after her successful dream wedding ceremony and reception a month ago. But I just would like to send this words to her and her husband, Mark, that a good marriage is far more important than anything else that happened on their wedding day.

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.  

~Martin Luther

Scripture and a Snapshot

This butterfly was quite energetic. It kept fluttering around. It took me a while to finally frame it! It was flying knee-high so I had to crawl on the ground to get a good shot of its beautifully designed wings. Its Creator is amazing, isn't He?

Creativity Unlimited

This post is a day late. I was hooked on accounting yesterday. Had battle with spreadsheets and excel but I think I did a good job. Yay!

Let me just share my random creation recently amid the busyness after moving to our new house.

A Diaper cake for my sister's in-law baby shower. She just had given birth to another baby boy. I created this cake with mobile in an hour. Thanks to the supermarket across our street. i easily found all material I needed. The pole in the middle is a part of the towel hanger in my bathroom :) The other diaper cake is made by a friend.























Some Comfort Food:

I love how the wheat bread turned out. Dh prepared the dough last night. I woke up early to bake it for our breakfast. So yummy!


 


Friend Banana (turon) for snack.

I wrapped  a slice of ripe banana and ripe jack-fruit with spring roll wrapper, and fried it with sugar caramel.
This goes well with soda or any frizzy drinks!

Birthday Cake for my student who turned 10 this week. As usual, I used fresh flowers from my garden to adorn his cake.

My Beach Garden is my latest creation.

See more of my garden photos here.

My friend Lori is hosting FarmGirl@Heart every Friday. You are welcome to join and share anything you've grown/created/made. Be it in your garden or in your kitchen, or any crafts and hobbies you have! Click on the badge to meet the host and other farmgirls@heart.

My Kind of Relaxation

I'm glad to have had a little time to relax today. I loved my little space by the end table of the music school lobby where Naomi attends jazz dance class. Her class was on the 4th floor but I could watch her from the tv monitor in the lobby where other parents were also waiting.

We are having trouble with our internet connection at home so I was happy as a clam to check emails and write a little post in a cozy corner.

My daughter joined me for some cold refreshment after her dance, then we went off for lunch and chatted a bit about truths in life like the value of not laying up earthly treasures. Our little talk started when she asked about the reason why people are "shopaholic". She made a conclusion that it's because their parents just bought them anything they wanted when they were growing up. My girl has learned self-control at early age.

After our lunch, we treated ourselves with some local sweets we bought from the food stall we passed by on our way home. We came home happy and just about time for afternoon church service.


Happy weekend, my dear readers. I hope you too will find your time to relax today.

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."
- Sydney J. Harris

I Am My Father's Daughter

When I went to visit my home-country, I had a day-out with my father. I'm 40 but it still feels good to be my father's daughter.

When my son went on vacation with my parents, he came home telling me how proud he was to see his grandpa's work. That made me curious so I made sure that I go and see for myself.  I enjoyed to opportunity to be toured by him at the city hall and to his field office.

My father (the man standing on the 2nd floor) used to be the mayor's executive secretary of Panabo City but now he holds an office under the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office or CENRO .

He drove me to this site by the beach where his nursery project was. They are planting mangroves to save the coastal area from erosion.

I was amused to see what he had done to the seeds he collected when he came to visit us.







He likes to collect different kinds of exotic plants.


The man has a vision for the city. Whatever good he saw in progressive cities he's been to, he wanted it for Panabo.

Then, my father showed me another flourishing project of the city.

 The mariculture project.

This is one of the 300+ fish cages on the site where each cage can hold up to 15,000 Bangus (Milk Fish).

The harvested fish is then sold fresh or frozen, dried or in jar as sardines or mackerel.





You can imagine how much help it gives to the livelihood of the local people.

 My father bought fish products before we left. I had to bring them all for my family and my other sibling's who now live outside the country.


Tonight, we had the last pack of dried Bangus for our dinner.






 I can't just not share to you how I felt during my visit at the father's workplace. My son was right. I was proud to follow his lead that day.

I'm proud because my father unselfishly serves the community. The same thing I wanted to do. I am indeed my father's daughter.

If I were to go back to my home country, I would serve (or invest) in this very young but promising city, my ancestral home where a good part of my childhood was spent, where my husband and I made our first home.

God bless the beautiful and bountiful Panabo City.

Skywatch Wedding

I promised to post more pictures I took during my niece's wedding. I was part of the entourage so I had only limited opportunity to take photos during the ceremony but I had the bride's permission to share their official wedding photos.

So here's the promise.

 The bride wanted it to be a twilight wedding where the background is the sunset. 

"More romantic", she said.

 So we prayed for a good weather because it had been raining days before the big day.

..and God granted her heart's desire.

 It was very romantic, indeed!

 But as we all know, there's always this "Joy-stealer" that is always trying to find ways to rob joy from God's people, especially from those who are enjoying the blessings and sanctity of the holy matrimony. The enemy uses people or circumstances to do this. And on this wedding, since all people refused to be his instrument, he blew the electric transformer off.

But his trick only revealed the glorious sky that proved God's favor on the newly-wed couple.

 Before the lights were back, the couple had already said their beautiful vows to each other under the perfect moonlight.

Marriage is designed by God. It must be beautiful!

Ruth @ Daily Divine