Blogging Away

My blogging headquarters for now.

Luzviminda, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines

Here I sit with hair still wet from just having had a nice refreshing shower, blogging away.

After a lot of work on both our parts, Dave and I finally have built a cozy place together. I am sitting here on my cogon thatched roof native deck, happier than I have been in, well I just can't remember, except perhaps the time I had another farm in high up in the mountains and far away Montague, California in the early 80's.  From the cool clean alpine abode in Northern California, and miles away from my desert home in Tucson, Arizona, I have finally landed where I want to be. Back in my native Philippines. Where I was born and raised.

Our adopted stray kitten Ming Ming,
AKA Ms. Stinky butt.

Though not in my hometown of Batangas, I feel very at home here in little, sleepy Luzviminda.

I am feeling so happy, content, blessed and grateful. It's so good that I want to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming. Even though there is a whole palate of landscaping to do, herb gardens to sow, I feel no dire urgency, only the lovely tingle of anticipation of how things can be with our combined efforts and those of our fabulous staff.

Our mini Chihuahua. The name he came
with is larger that he is, Shakespeare, and
Ming Ming the newly adopted stray kitten.

Now I am sitting here waiting for our guests to arrive for lunch. Dave just set out driving to the Mangingisda Pier to pick them up. There's a large banca ferry coming and going till 5pm from Baywalk in City center to Mangingisda! No need for guests to drive here! The ferry only takes between 20 to 35 minutes depending on the water conditions. Then it's just a 5 minute drive in the car to pick them up.

When they pave the road all the way to the pier we will be able to take our electric Trikes there and back! What a joy that will be.

Slivers of carrots, jicama,
cucumbers, thai basil in a pureed
red pepper, olive oil, garlic and lime
 dressing. It doesn't look that great,
ut it was tasty!

I made Chicken Picatta, slices of potatoes baked in olive oil and dill weed, a salad of thinly sliced carrots, jicama and crisp cucumber (thanks to friends at Bahay Kalipay who brought them for lunch the day before), with a fresh sweet bell papper, mustard, lime and olive oil dressing. I can't wait for them to get here so I can dig my chops into the Chicken Picatta which is one of my favorite meals.

Eveyone was so hungry when they arrived, I put out the Chicken Picatta and it was wolfed down before I could get a photo. It was very tasty indeed.  I also made a side dish of mung bean sprouts and okra tortas.

Side of mung bean sprouts and okra tortas

A good time was had by all. It has been so wonderful to be able to relax and enjoy the company of new and old friends and family. Already one of my very close cousins has already come and "camped" with us! We've had more company here than over the whole year or two and it's out of town and a bit of a trek. With the holidays coming soon we are in a festive mood. And to think, we have just been here 1 month!

Alysha wanted to be a kitty cat
for halloween.

I think it's a wonderful place for Alysha, our soon to be 4 year old daughter In fact it's 11/11/2007! What an auspicious date! Speaking of her, it's time for me to put her to bed and hang out with her before she slips into the dreams of childhood.

Here are some scenes of my surroundings.  Clicking any photo on this page will bring them up in a new window much larger.

Shower, original eating area. The decorative
banana plants have more than tripled in 6 months. The rear
right roofs are our cogon thatched roof deck and thatched covered
stairs.

Akapulko blossoms and shrub tree. The leaves and flowers
are both used as treatments for skin rashes, insect bites etc.

Christmas wreath in November. The cogon thatched roof of my
deck and blog spot for now until we build the main house
when we recover from building this.