Inexpensive ornament

More than any other Christmas decoration, I love Christmas trees the best. Especially those that are heavily laden with ornaments. We have a word in Tagalog that describes it perfectly: busog. It really means 'a full stomach,' both the feeling and how it gets distended when you've eaten a lot. Through the years, I've accumulated all sorts of ornaments to try to get our tree as busog as it can get. Aside from ornaments that are hung on branches, I've bought garlands to string around it (though I didn't use them this year) and glittery flowers to put on top of boughs. Thanks to a friend of mine and her Christmas tree, I discovered another ornament perfect for filling in spaces between branches. And it's DIY so it's also very inexpensive. All you need is that wide ribbon with wire at the edges so they can be shaped and those little ornaments on thin wires. Cut and cross the ribbon, wrap the wired ornament, and voilà!


A 10-yard roll of ribbon gave me 16 ornaments. To see how I used it on our tree, click here. Although I made them specifically for the tree, you can also use this simple ribbon trick to accessorize gifts, for Christmas or any other occasion.

He's home!

My husband's back from the Mildura Writers' Festival. I took the afternoon off from work so I could be home when he arrived. I'm happy. And I can finally sleep well again.

He took this photo of the Mildura Weir on the Murray River. We're both city born and bred, and this is absolutely lovely to us.

Not happy at home

As I'm writing this, my husband is in a plane on his way to Melbourne to participate in the Mildura Writers' Festival. He will be back on Tuesday, July 21.


In our thirteen years of marriage, this is only the second time that we will be apart for more than three days.

I feel almost edible

• Coconut scalp care cream
• Brazil Nut intensive hair treatment
• Beer shampoo
• Lemon and Honey bath soap
• Cucumber and Avocado facial scrub
  
• Raspberry and Pear body lotion
• Orange cologne

The blessings of Easter

Despite being the middle of summer here in the Philippines, it's been raining almost every afternoon these past two weeks. A happy result of this is that I've discovered more flowers blooming in our garden. Of course, like the other flowers I've posted before, I have no idea what their names are. But whatever they are, I think they're such wonderful blessings especially for this season.

Spiky. I'm just glad this is soft and small.

Red clusters. Tiny, tiny flowerets growing in clusters. The leaves are round, thick and waxy and remind me of jojoba somehow.

Pale lavender. Orchid, definitely an orchid. But what kind?

Spring skirt. It looks like a lady wearing one of those frilly skirts that seem to be in season this spring.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Valentine wreath

I know that it's a very late post, but I've been very late about a lot of home stuff lately because of the work load in my job. I'm still posting it anyway. As they say, better late than never.

When I took down our Christmas decorations last January, I told my husband that I'd remove the Christmas ornaments on them but that I'll be keeping the wreaths on our front door and kitchen door. My idea is to change their ornaments depending on the season or holiday.

For Valentine, I made little red hearts out of cardboard and outlined them with black glitter. I didn't have time to go to a shop to look for other Valentine ornaments though, but I hope to add more through the years.


My problem now is, it's already the last week of March and I still haven't replaced the hearts. Again, I haven't had the time to go shopping. I'm scheduled to have my monthly mall trip next Sunday and I hope I can sneak in the ornaments. I also hope that I can find something appropriate for summer. At least, the way our summers have been the past few years, I won't have to worry about replacing them until July!

Off with her hair!

After more than a year of having shoulder blade length hair, I finally had it chopped off. The past few months, I'd been putting it up in a bun or ponytail anyway because it was too much of a bother to blow dry and style. Then there's the fact that we've been hitting 33ºC already and it's only the start of summer. So I'm back to my short shag and my head feels so much lighter. I hope this means I can keep a cool head longer too!


When the hairdresser swept up all the hair he cut from me into this pile, he said, "Ma'm, there's more hair on the floor than you have on your head."

New year blessings

My wish for you in 2009:

Beauty for your eyes to see
Comfort on difficult days
Faith during your lowest moments
Smiles to brighten your day
Rainbows to follow the clouds
Courage when the way gets dark
Laughter to kiss your lips
Patience when you need to wait
Hugs when your spirit sags
Friendships to lighten your being
Love to fill your life

Happy New Year!

Image from wallpapers.dpics.org