My Way of Living [Search results for summer fun] 

This previous post may be slightly familiar to my long time blogging friends, the subject resonates in my heart, I’ve freshened it up, so it’s worth reading again.
For my newest blogging buddies I hope you enjoy the read.
Originally posted last summer… the changes in our weather make it the perfect time to share it again.
“Summer here is so fleeting… blink and she is gone through the door to meet up with Autumn.”

Mercurial, undependable, temperamental, feisty, and quirky.
She stays for a short while in our world, holding in her hands the glow from a sunset so beautiful it makes your heart skip a beat.
She is Summer, and as she whispers to you with a warm breath that blows away the clouds, you fall in love quickly and want her to stay forever.
Her time brings peerless skies so wide they feel like they must be made of pieces of a quilt seamed together to cover the earth.
She stands there promising days of never ending barefooted bliss, soft light cotton clothing that glides over skin, sandals, flip flops and outdoor fun on freshly cut green grass, blossoms in the hair.
Scent on the breeze, tart lemonade that lives forever in our memories.
A beauty, she has been revered, treasured, photographed, painted, written about, and sought after. We long to meet up with her in winter, we hope for a visit in spring, and her leaving us is lamented in Autumn as we pack away our summer things.
Summer is cold, crystalized ice cream treats wrapped in soggy paper, paid for with sticky coins held tightly in pudgy childhood fists, the first transactions of impending consumerism.
White boxy vans with colourful hunger inducing signage traverse the neighbourhoods, piping tinny music that is reflected nostalgically in parental eyes. The jarring sounds of a tinned polka cuts through walls and windows, floating down neat suburban streets, bouncing off of the hot pavement of water parks.

Children slip from their languid pools of heat puddled in front of TV’s, banging front doors shut, dashing off porches towards treats.
Popsicles stain their short, tanned legs like tattoos. Rivulets of sweet melted syrup, track, and map in the dust covered skin acquired from walking on golden sun bleached grass in bare summer hardened feet.
Summer is salty ocean waves white caps, and grey sandy beaches. Fresh water lakes filled with shiny trout sparkling in glimmers of sunlight that peer from underneath docks. It’s deep, green blue depths of scary water, learning to swim, float, and sinking like a stone.

She’s bare feet tangled in flip flops in the bottom of a roughly painted boat, long grasses swaying under water as you glide softly over them. Drops splashed from paddles skipped upon water fresh tasting on the lips, sun baked faded life jackets who’s musty smell wafts over the tropical fragrance of coconut suntan lotion.
Summer’s responsible for sprinklers spreading diamonds that cling onto branches in the backyard. First stolen kisses, giggles, sun soaked skin, and icy cold, sweating glass. Lanterns filled with citronella candles, plunked on picnic tables, chequered clothes, and homemade potato salad with pickles.
We measure her girth by degrees, while speaking of her with abandon, complaining when she is too intense, and wishing when she isn’t. Summer can burn you with the slightest touch, or caress you gently, and lull you into a soft nap in a cottage chair by the lake.

And then Summer pauses to take a breath, gather her remaining energy, and gives us it all with honesty, the breathtakingly vibrant sunsets, soft glowing dawns, and days of hot golden light, that slowly ease into cool nights, and relief from the heat.
When the scorching sun carries itself lower in the sky and the fruit trees are a laden with their bearings, gone is the harsh, bright shrillness of the early season, this is summer in her waning years, warm, wise, and wistful.

We know that she won’t be around forever, each moment savoured like a drop of honey spilling from the spoon. Sweetly etched on our heart the crunch of a home grown carrot, just pulled from the hot earth, the taste of fresh picked fruit, the singing of a bird at dusk. The sound of the light hitting the blossoms, as a camera captures their reflection.
With a slightly regretful glance over her shoulder she takes her leave. Emptying a space for us to usher in Autumn. Glancing back with a fond look, flitting in and out of our warm days, and cooling nights, she is blowing a kiss goodbye.
A short visit, never long enough, leaving us with gentle faded memories, tan lines, bug bites and bliss.

As the Gingerbreadman vainly tried to fight off overly emotional baristas and egotistical, surly flight attendants, his tribulations soon got lost as he entered the airspace of the world's largest city, a southern paradise beckoning to him like a sub-zero Coke on a sweltering summer afternooon.

So before it came to this... ..

He had to pass through this... ...

Davao Cab from Airport. GBM. I can't believe I'm finally here. Haven't been here in a year. It's been too long. Last time it was work work work. Now I want to have fun fun fun. Cab driver is conversing with me in the vernacular. Only my proficiency in Cebuano is equivalent to that of a 3rd grader. Okay he's frowning now I think I just said something offensive. Why do I even try? I'm here early, stupid Cebu Pacific had no flights nearer to my boat ride. Wow they still have non-airconditioned taxis here. How... arcane :) Wha.. What's that Mr. Cabbie? Dapit na dong? What's a dapit? What's a dong? Are you cursing me? !@$%%

I find t hese Manila people to be extremely strange With nothing to do until 1:30, GBM was prevailed upon to check out the local sights to burn time. Quickly googling "fun davao spots" unfurled the premiere shopping place in Davao... . Aldevinco Center, GBM Wow, what will I do with sarongs and earrings? And tribal headgear? Next! This is not my place... . Further queries brought about Crocodile Farm, a sortie which did not quite pick his fancy because he had already visited the previous year. In addition, an inherent disdain for 1,000 lb crocodiles ensured that no return trips would be commencing in the near future. Running out of options, a familiar jaunt emerged as a safe haven amidst this unfamiliar land. SM Davao, GBM Wow! I'm in civilization! The SM here looks so... . so... .. the same! So many Mang Inasals! KFC! Kenny! Just like... .. Manila. Hmm... . Nothing spectacular here. Well at least it ain't hot here, it's sweltering outside. Hey they have bottomless greaseless chicken! Did you hear that? Who would have known there was such a thing! I AM IN HEAVEN (@,@) It's the greatest thing ever! I am not making this up. Yum. I heart Davao. *burp*

Best Deal in Town

YUM YUM YUM Davao Marina, 1:30 pm. As the hour neared, his belly filled with greaseless chicken amidst the respite of a cool summer breeze, our protagonist reached the designated pick up point where he would be taking a boat ride to his late summer getaway. A simple wharf was expected, but instead this was the sight that met him... .

Great, they have their own mini-resort as a holding area. Amazing. Very impressive. Okay so now the boat is here. Not a yacht, but the speedboat aint bad at all. So now the journey to paradise begins... .

UA&P, GBM's desk. Present- Day Hi there my dear reader/friend.This is Luis right here. Yes, Gingerbreadman. GBM. Whatever. And yes, I'm talking to you. Breaking the 4th wall again. Thanks for the support in following the story up to this point. I know your time is precious and valuable, that's why I make it as entertaining as possible for you. As you're immersed in our narrative, you do know that here in The Gingerbread Report we try to do things differently. We try to share experiences in unconventional ways. So what usually happens at this point is I would relate how wonderful my vacation was, or how awesome the beach was blah blah. Yeah. That's the norm. But hey, just in the spirit of differentiation that we oftentimes espouse, I'll just stop there. I won't bother telling you about our living arrangements... .

Or their fancy floating bar...

I will not regale you with stories of how close the beach was to my place...

Nor will I bore you with canned anecdotes about how awesome the scenery was... .

I will not even attempt to tell you about that cool electric cart we used...

Or share something irrelevant, like how I am a new infinity pool convert... .

I will not even BEGIN to say how much it rocked to just bum around.

And above all... .. How much it rocked to run on the beach...

I won't even go into any of these things, for the simple reason that... .. It would've been infinitely more special if you were there to share the experience with me. :)

I’m hooked on making these summer color palettes I’m making with my photos they are such fun to play with. You’ve probably seen versions of them on the blogosphere, a photo with matching color swatches on the side. Design seeds has gorgeous ones, they will inspire you if you are looking for new colors to play with.

So far the blue ones are my favourite colors… I’ve been playing around with new colors for my blog design. And this is a interesting way to find colors that I love. I’ve often wondered how they were made, and here is a great tutorial from The Mother Huddle that shows you how to make some for yourself, have fun.

It’s a great way to savour summer before it’s all gone. But then again, we could use Autumn photos, and find gorgeous russet, orange, and brick tones to work into our palettes.

Summer blogging schedule continues, I’m posting on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Hope that you are having a great summer. Jane

If the seasons had personalities like people do what would they be like. Spring would be demure, and soft spoken, all coy glances, and soft pink frills, a real girly kind of personality. Summer would be exuberant, open arms, hugs, tank tops a throw back to the hippy days with a real anything goes kind of attitude. Fall would be quiet and contemplative a bookworm that loves details, cosy fires, crisp leaves, and long walks.

And Winter… well it would be like that person that seems prickly and hard to get to know, but turns out to be not a curmudgeon, but a faithful, and honest companion. The one that you would call when you needed something that you couldn’t ask anyone else to do for you. The one that sets boundaries that only open up after years of friendship, and then very carefully lets you in bit by bit. Winter is determined, fierce, and loyal, do not turn against winter, it will never forgive you. Winter can be playful, not like summer, or spring, but in a here’s beautiful day get outside and enjoy it kind of way. Winter will take you out of your comfort zone, it’s good at doing that. But it is also a teacher, you will learn more about yourself in winter then any other season.

Spring dilly dallies… flounces about with it’s blossoms, and bulbs, it’s not a serious season, it’s very into itself, all about renewal, like a day at the spa.

Summer is gregarious, mercurial, some days it’s over the top, others days it embraces you wholeheartedly. Summer has many moods most of them sunny, but when it’s unhappy you will know it, think of summer storms…

Fall, is more complex then we realize, deep, thoughtful, planning ahead, always considerate of what’s to come. Fall is responsible for winter’s happiness, and never forgets that, it would love to just relax, let the leaves fall as they may, but it can’t. Fall is like the older child, it knows it’s responsibilities and will never shirk them.

Winter is demanding, and can be harsh, but occasionally regrets that behaviour, so it tries to make up for it’s strength by fluctuating… winter hasn’t quite figured out who it is yet. Some days it’s warm and inviting, letting spring peek through the bare patches in the snow, the grass start to green, and then it changes it mind. Holding onto the season with all of it’s might. Winter sometimes you are hard to love, but we are trying and learning to embrace you. Don’t forget to link up your No winter Whining – Finding color in winter this Sunday Jan 19th at Life is like a garden to join in our No Winter Whining link up party. And be sure to “like” our Facebook page , and join in fun at our NWW pinterest boards. One post per week will be given the NWW virtual snowball award, and their posts added to the FB and Pinterest sites. Linky will stay open until the following Thursdays. So get those cameras clicking and find some color in winter.

Mother Nature, mercurial, quirky, odd, wonderful, delightful.
Those last few are when the weather matches up with what it is we are expecting.
May I gently remind all of you
Including those eager bloggers who have declared it Autumn, that the day doesn’t come for a little while yet.
Let us not count on our fingers, but with our hearts… step outside.
Enjoy the late summer days, the cooling nights, the freshening air.
Breath deeply, and save it for later.
Those days of cold, dark, uneven steps.

And if you live in Calgary, the early snowstorms… Canadian humour folks.we like to tease that part of the country, don’t worry, it’s all gentle, and fun.
But they were deep in snow for a little while.
Deep, in snow… in September.
Who would have thought.
Not us as we woke to Mother Nature blowing us a farewell kiss.
Frozen out
Frost on the roofs.white, crystalized cold.
Symbolic of a change of season, but much too fast for our hearts, our toes, and our gardens.
Three days of high alert, worrying, cozying up the tomatoes, brushing off the snow boots, dreaming of the beach.
Disbelief
And then.
She took it back
Just like that, she turned, twisted, and flitted away, only to return in a moment with sunshine, heat that would rival any summer day.

Gone girl
Gone is the frost, the cold, the dark mornings, the furnace blowing desperately to warm.
In it’s place she has painted meticulously designed glowing sunsets that pearlize the sky.
Shining their gleam across a land of big skies, blue mountains, and bronzed fields of wheat stubble.
Creating awe in this photographers heart.
Mornings, fresh, delightful, and bright.
Newly minted
Leaves greening, flowers bursting, veggie gardens continuing to produce.
Raising doubt like a flower rises towards the light, will Winter truly come?
And, if so why?
Why can’t we live in this land of make belief for a while longer?
Indian summer forever?
Why must winter come so soon after summer sheds her skin?

Skies so blue.
Clouds not to be found.
Flowers continue to bloom.
Yes, Mother Nature.
Take back that kiss.

What is it about Baguio and pine trees? The summer capital of the Philippines usually evokes memories of the unmistakeable aroma of pine, an aroma that in turn triggers memories of fun summers, inebriated nights, and forlorn romances. Indeed, this northern getaway could symbolize a whole lot of different things for a whole lot of different people. During my latest jaunt there, the time came to nurture a Baguio experience of a different kind - my first road race in the City of Pines!

An Unlikely Gig The whole trip started innocuously enough - majority of the gang was disenfranshised by the lack of slots to TNF and we were lacking a weekend gig. Out of what seemed like divine providence, coach Pojie suddenly mentioned that Botak was organizing a Baguio race, the idea floated to him by Craig of Team Logan. With the recent beating the Botak brand has taken amongst running denizens, the announcement was met with a certain degree of apprehension. These fears were quickly allayed when it was mentioned that the race was being handled by a different organizer. From that point on, everything seemed like a blur. Before we knew it, ageless resto magnate/speedster/overall good guy Bong was already taking care of the logistical preps for the group. And thus the adventure begins... .. Carbo- Loading in the Cold Craig offered to organize a Carbo Loading Party or CLP at his Baguio abode the Friday before the race, much like the Takbo.ph CLP shortly before the Condura Run. Due to work constraints, I was prevailed upon to drive over on a Saturday, and it looks likeI missed a wonderful celebration. I promise I'll be there next time guys!

The Takbo.ph gang at the Logan home The Night Before The 5 hour drive going to Baguio was pleasant enough, the SCTEX doing wonders for what used to be an extremely cumbersome ride. After retreating to Baguio Burnham Suites, (shame less plug for my friend's hotel haha ) I went on to visit the Takbo.ph gang at Chelly's place where practically everyone was staying. I am in no way, shape or form an expert on Baguio roads, so suffice to say I got lost multiple times while looking for the place. After much tribulation and comprehensive directions from the police station (fine I gave up so sue me) I finally found the place!I was so happy to see the gang, the hard-core running addicts of my running team celebrating our sweeping point of commonality in such a remote and unlikely locale. We had quite the delegation! I was even offered some Bacardi! To put in my hydro belt! (They were kidding. I think.) After chilling with the gang, I left for my hotel with bright anticipation for the race that was to commence in a few hours.

Fun Takbo.ph times at Chelly's winter palace

Gal pals Julie and Carina hyped up for the race

21k virgin Edu chillin out

The Cranium set which provided the entertainment for the nightBaguio D-Day With roughly four hours of sleep, I trotted over to the starting line at Burnham Park near the pond. I was lucky that the hotel was pretty near, so I got a half-decent warmup run in chilly 16 degree weather. The gang was already there, excited yet anxious at the same time.

Ready to go to war in the chilly Baguio dawn

Let's get it on!!!!!The organizer was announcing all the running teams and clubs that came- a smattering from Manila and a handful of varsities from the prevailing locale. It seemed that the Takbo.ph delegation was the biggest from Manila. However, the biggest delegation was hands down from the PNP training corps , both their men's and women's squads were there. There also was some unintentional comedy involved as the organizers instructed the Takbo.ph team to come up the front of the line! Feeling elite! Haha :) At about 5:45 (15 minutes from the announced start time as we had "waited"for the police escorts) the starting gun went off. So here we go... .. On a Higher Plane Given the aniticipated difficulty of the course based from the group's feedback after their ocular the day before, we all adjusted our projected pace accordingly. I was pacing with Takbo.ph founder Jinoe, and we decided we should maintain a 6:30 pace for the first 10k.Once again, just the mere fact that I was racing in Baguio was so surreal for me. The chilly thin air, that unmistakeable aroma of pine, great company... . sunrise at 1500 feet... . Wow... ... It was AWESOME. Makes the 268 km ride from Manila (okay fine I measured it with my Garmin. Junkie.) all worth it. And just as I was starting to get a wee bit too comfy in my utopian dream scenario, a rapid 3 km downhill descent that we were running at 5:20 pace gave us an ominous portent of things to come. As all runners reaching turnaround points know... . what goes down... must eventually go up. Gulp. It's The Hardest Thing At the 10k turnaround point and requisite 1 minute walk/water break, me and Jinoe were trying to mentally prepare oursleves for the drudgery that were going up against. We tried for 1 km to run it, but the hills were just too much. We ended upusing a run/walk strategy, even surrendering a 10:00 minute split. Looking around, even the police cadets were walking. Damn, it must have been THAT hard. Check out the elevation courtesy of Jinoe's 405!

Homeward Bound Having survived that, we struggled to get our wits about us. We had surrendered nearly a full minute from our pace and we needed to make up for lost ground in a hurry. So what we did, we used a group of gruff cadets as a pace group, and they hurtled through the return route at a 5:20 pace. We struggled to keep up and thankfully our second wind kicked in at this point. As we starting to catch some sort of coherent rhythm at this point, we realized that we were on the way back to Burnham already! The course was going to be short! As I sprinted towards the finish line at 2:01:43, the 10k runners of the Takbo.ph gang greeted me with a rapturous round of applause, sweet music to my ears after wining yet another battle of wills. Boss Jinoe soon followed suit, about 15 seconds behind by my estimate. The moment we had crossed the line, the kind lady organizer immediately asked how long did the race register on our Garmins. I told her, 18.16 on mine. She then went on to explain that the local government had them do emergency reroute because of some digging that was being done. While some may have thought that this was the latest Botak disaster, I felt that from a PR perspective her prompt, on-the-spot public announcement and apology was the best possible thing that could have been done. Shirking from the issue would have been disastrous. As a result, the discrepancy was more or less downplayed by the participants.

Sprinting with a smile towards the finish line

I conquered them hills!

18k? Easy!

Jinoe, Me, Mhel, Poj, and Doc Roy

Queenie getting her top-15 finish medal Final Thoughts Overall, it was probably one of the toughest races I have been part of. The 3k killer uphill stretch truly left little to the imagination ; if you think I exaggerate you should try it out for yourself. The cool weather, the tremendous locale and wonderful scenery made it all the more special. And hey, it's not like you could race the infamous uphills of the City of Pines every week right? As always, even if I wasn't there for their entire stay, the Takbo.ph team made the experience infinitely more special. I grabbed photos, sue me later :) If you want interactive map info of the race, check it out here - http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/8310795 What is it about Baguio and pine trees? What strong memories do these bastions of generations past evoke? Forlorn romances? Inebriated nights? I don't know about you, but I 'll never look at Baguio in the same way again.

After years of garden center work I had been trained to keep a eye out for perfection, beauty, and fine detail. But somehow these faded beauties hanging their bashful heads give me more joy to shoot, then when they were at the peak of perfection. To me they are imperfectly perfect.

I am not sure if you see it this way, but I get as much fun out of a crispy brown hydrangea blossom, as I do shooting it’s stunning blues during mid summer. There is a texture in dying flowers, a deepness of a season passed by. And when the hydrangea turns colors as it passes through the stages, it’s even more beautiful to me. When the leaves of a tree turn color, they shine, they shimmer in the golden light of autumn, and as they fall they evoke a good feeling of seasons to come.

So Autumn, come bring your color, and summer gracefully let go of your days. The fading light, and cooler nights will bring many treasures for us photographers. Our subjects may be fading, but they are imperfectly perfect.

It’s cool, and damp, with a light constant rain falling among the golden leaves. The colors reminding me that a hot drink would be very welcome right about now. My brain craves hot chocolate, the perfect comfort drink for a foodie on a rainy day. But I am banned from having anything dairy, and practically anything that tastes good seems to cause a huge reaction in my allergies lately. It’s amazing how good cheese tastes in your dreams when it can’t be in your diet. And I’m not even a cheese person.

I dream of pizza, mac and cheese, tacos, cheesecake, butter, and cream, oh what a nightmare for this food loving woman I am!

I want you to read this as I am writing it, with a wry smile, and a fond appreciation for that which we can’t have. I am not asking you to feel sorry for me… just thinking fond memories of food. It’s hardly life changing, lot’s of people have food intolerances, and the repercussions of eating something that causes my allergies to worsen is actually harder then not eating the food. I just need to keep telling myself that, it’s not good for me, stop craving it, but cutting it out isn’t fun.

I have what looks like a very wild sunburn on my face, it’s swollen, red, very visible,[once again this seems to happen every summer, I’ve written about it before] they say it’s allergies, the steroids are even having a hard time getting it to subside this time. It’s probably worth trying the no dairy, and maybe even the gluten free diet, no chicken, eggs, spices, sauces, tomatoes, avocados, no fun, I love food, but this is so extreme what am I to eat? And to top it all off, I think I am allergic to rice.

Well, there is always broccoli… and lettuce. So here I sit, with my cup of Chocolate flavoured almond milk hot chocolate, [which I probably shouldn’t even have] grimacing at every sip, wishing it was covered in something real like whipping cream, add a touch of butter, some garlic bread, along with a scrambled egg, and cheesecake… A woman can dream, can’t she? Do you have food intolerances, and how do you deal with it if you love that particular food?

I’m looking forward to taking part in Brenda from A Cosy Little House’s new series on Thrifty Living 2012. In this series, there will be five women sharing the individual struggles they face economically with their families in a particular region. Each week [Thursday] one of us, Brenda, Claudia , Elaine , Diane, and myself will feature a topic on how we are living more thriftily in the year 2012. Then the rest of us will add our own paragraph or so on how we apply that to our own lives.

We run the gamut. Brenda is a single family household. Claudia and Don live with their two dogs in New York. Elaine has a small daughter, and grown children in Southern California. Diane and Ron live in Florida and are retired. Gar and I have just relocated to another part of BC, Canada and have just bought our first house.

So here’s my introduction:

My name is Jane. My husband, along with Bootsie our cat, and I have just moved up to the North Okanagan, in BC, Canada. We moved from a small condo in White Rock, near the beach to the gorgeous mountains, cold winters, and hot summers of the Okanagan to be near my family. It's a huge change for us, going from 850 sq. ft. condo, to 1st time homeowners of a real house! The first thing I would have to say, is it's expensive to do this, from the move, to the house purchase it's been a big drain on our finances. Like everyone else we have a budget that we have to live within.

So while I might dream of tearing out the kitchen right away, and replacing all the brass colored door handles, along with the interesting light fixtures, reality will take over as soon as we move into our new home. And that's where Thrifty Living 2012 comes in. I am going to have to dig deep, and be creative in order to make this house our home without breaking the bank.

We will be living in a rural area, it's a long drive to the grocery store, or to a job, there is no Friday night take out around here. We plan on recycling as much of our waste as possible, because there isn't any garbage pick up, no mail at the door, and I am not sure if there is even any cable.

As soon as summer comes along I am going to learn to can, and freeze summer fruits, and veggies for the winter months. I have big plans for a garden, and I love to cook, usually making most of our meals from scratch because of my severe allergies to so many foods, and additives. I also make my own cleaning solutions because I am allergic to the commercial ones that you would buy in the store.

It's going to be fun, and interesting, and I am sure that you will pick up some great tips from our series on Thrifty living 2012.

To read the introductions from the rest of this team, go over to:

Brenda of Cozy Little House

Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Elaine of Sunny Simple Life

Diane of Lavender Dreams

I am heading off to read the other introductions, and get to know the other bloggers in this series, talk to you later.

We watched a special on the Ed Sullivan show last night… it featured the Mama’s and the Papa’s singing “Monday, Monday.” Guess who now has one of those annoying ear worms.*
Mmmhmm, Monday, Monday. Can’t trust that day.
Ugh.
Yes Monday, Monday, which played all day Sunday, today is Monday and it’s still going strong… I need a new song playing in my head.
“Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, who could hang a name on you?”

The Wedding Crashers:
I can honestly say I have never before in my life attempted to crash a wedding, but apparently we did just that the other night without even trying.
It was a beautiful Saturday night, my Mom wanted to take us out for dinner on the patio at our local golf course.
She loves to eat outside on the deck, [with the mosquitoes… but it’s the Okanagan, what do we expect right]?
We noticed that the parking lot was full of nicely dressed men and women in cowboy gear, none of us thought anything other then “I hope there are still some tables available, and wow it’s unusually busy tonight.”
We walked up the steps to the clubhouse behind a group of people, and as we mingled in the lobby before heading into the restaurant, one man held open the door for us and joked about grabbing a shirt off off the sale rack by the door.
He offered to escort us to our table inside as the crowd of people headed that way.
It turns out he was the groom, and the crowd of people were not there just to have dinner, they were the wedding party. The cowboy boots, cute, short, flirty dresses, Stetson hats, and large belt buckles should have been a clue.
Since the clubhouse had not put up closed signs, we were not the only embarrassed ones turned away at the door. The groom at the door was pretty nice about it, he even offered to let us in as part of the wedding crowd.
Just call us the wedding crashers.

Some timely Pinterest hints:
I have two easy to remember things to tell you, I can’t remember if I have mentioned them before.both are pretty interesting to try, and I found them on Pinterest, but can’t find my original pins.
Summer is the time when we use our pretty little vases, filling them with flowers from our gardens.

Problem is, little vases are hard to clean, but this simple hint from Pinterest makes it a snap.
Before I found this hint, I had tried everything, denture tablets dropped into the water, small steel balls rolling around in soapy water, vinegar and baking soda, even a bottle brush… and while it worked OK.
It didn’t work great.
This hint does, and I have used it on other pieces of glass, when I want it to be sparkling clean also.
Empty out the vase, and pour a little rubbing alcohol into it, swirl it around, and rinse.
It magically takes out all of the scum marks, and water lines so easily you will wonder how on earth you managed to clean them without doing it this way before.
The second hint is also from Pinterest.
With the summer heat all of my parsley, and beloved cilantro has bolted… and it’s almost impossible to buy seeds this time of year.
Next year I will buy double, and plant them at 2 week intervals… sure I will try to do that but we all know how that goes.
I’ve had to buy a fresh bundle of cilantro from the grocery store, and was shocked to find out that it costs over $1.
That stuff is like gold, I could grow it in my garden for pennies… if I could find some seeds that is.
It keeps a few days in the fridge before going slimy and gooey, which is expensive, and no fun to clean up. This simple hint makes it last for almost two weeks in the fridge.
When you get the bundle home, give it a good rinse, a fresh cut on the bottom of the stems, then place in a tall glass half filled with water… I like to put a plastic bag over top of it while it’s in the fridge to keep it tidy.
Replace the water daily, and you will have fresh parsley, or cilantro for a much longer time then usual.
Mine has lasted up to two weeks.
This is amazing and it’s saved me a lot of money by doing it this way.
*A ear worm is a song that seems to be stuck in your head, forever, at least until it’s replaced by another catchy can’t get it out of your head tune… sing it, ”the Farmer in the Dell, the farmer in the Dell, hi ho the merry oh, the Farmer in the Dell.”
Oh, you are so welcome… snicker.

I’m trying to post my Meet and Greet Monday bloggers at least twice a month. The key word here is trying… lol.
Todays M&GM is Carolynn from A Glowing Ember.
Carolynn, was the first blogger I met in person when we both lived on the West Coast, near each other.
Although my husband and I had plans to move up to the Okanagan [the interior of BC] for many years, Carolynn ended up here moving here a few months before us. We ended up living only a short distance from each other here in the land of big skies.
Carolynn now lives in wind swept snowy Saskatchewan, [a prairie province of Canada] with her dog Willow, and her cat Luna. She is the proud mama of a new flock of rapidly growing chicks who hang out in repurposed antique barn that doubles as a chicken palace.
Check out her older posts to see inside the barn, there are rumours it’s so cute my wild quail are thinking of moving out there also.

I’m on a pink kick, and I have to say can’t believe that the color is coming back into my life again… thought I was good and done with it for a long, long time… remember Miami Vice? Well I had a baby pink cotton blazer, hot stuff, yes that was me.

But after a few decades I am back to thinking pink is really fun. Yes pink, soft cotton candy floss pink, hot pink, and flaming hot pink, deep coral pink, I’m in love with them.

The soft pink paired with gauzy aqua shades of turquoise… oh how I love that combo. And as you can see, I’ve changed my blog up again… I kind of like doing that every now and then.

And for the summer flashy hot pink, and bright orange shades, along with a dash of magenta, and lime in the garden. In fact I just went out and bought orange marigolds, can you believe that? Hot pink geraniums, and brilliant orange marigolds. Can’t wait for those to bloom together. Never thought I would buy marigolds, I was a plant snob, but that cheery blurb of orange is warming my heart right up.

Give me any shade of blue, or turquoise, oh turquoise.sigh.

So what are your preferences? And do they change from season to season? Do they stay in the same color family, just deepen, and lighten as your mood changes, or are you consistent? Gotta know, tell me.

I took some photos of my rusted up lantern, and my halfway there rusted up wind chimes. I really like the aged patina, it took a long time for that to happen. They hang outside in my garden, and I like to photograph them through the seasons. Winter with snow on them, summer glistening in the heat.

Somehow I missed a little piece of"bird offering" that was smack dab in the middle of it. And until I processed the shots I never saw it.

So I just used the retouch tool in Picassa to fix it up,and most of it is gone. If I had spent more time you could never know that there had been a bunch of…"ahem" on it. Made me wish we could do this in real life that easily. Got too many bills this month? Just retouch them, bingo, all gone. The dishes are still in the sink from the other day? Retouch! If only this was real life, think of all the fun we could have.

“Hey Jane, are you up there?” I hear my husbands voice from down in the basement, darn, busted… again. More then likely the sound of the computer chair being dragged over his head on the floor above gave it away. Back to work I go cleaning up the basement with him. Do you sneak in a little blogging throughout the day, when no one is looking?

“Dinner will be a little late, and it might be a bit burnt.” I announce this to Boo our cat, and my husband as they are sitting in their favourite chair watching the evening news. “Blogging again” he asks with smile. The man knows me much too well, and he has heard every reason in the world as to why dinner is: late, burnt, nearly raw, non existent, forgotten, or something quick, and simple.

Blogging is more fun then housework, TV, cooking, or feeding the poor cat. “Hey honey, the cat is starving, can you just… ” He knows that I am in the middle of a post, and don’t want to lose sight of the idea before I get it on the screen.

When inspiration strikes I must go to the computer and translate what’s in my mind, that itchy little voice that speaks to me, even if it is a bad time. So far I have held off blogging in the middle of the night, but that’s only because I would have to get out of bed, and go downstairs, turn on the computer and wait for it to fire up. But then again, I could always keep the laptop by my bed…

Do you sneak in bits and pieces of blogging daily? Do you tiptoe away from others, saying I just have something important to attend to… or are you a all or nothing, this is my only time to blog, don’t you bother me now kind of blogger? Do you steal away to check the comments, read a few other blogs, and maybe leave a comment or two? Of course we are all curious how other people find the time to blog… so share, even if you have to sneak away to do it. Tiptoeing away… Now before I forget, you still have one more day to get your guess in as to who will get snow first, Connie, at Far Side of Fifty, or us. See this link for details. Contest closes at midnight Friday

Just a note to those of you have already read this, sorry about re-posting, but this isn’t showing up in very many inboxes. Don’t know what happened to the feed, so I am trying to repost it again to try and figure out what has happened. If you have already read this, then I apologize, last nights leftovers, and such… LOL.

All summer long I’ve been hearing about the wonderful fruits and veggies that my Sister’s farm is producing. My parents have been tantalizing us with tales of planting corn, potatoes, carrots, and seedling watermelons, and cantaloupe until we were drooling. And then to they would describe what they were having for dessert, watermelon, cantaloupes, peaches from a friends tree. It was hard. There is nothing like paying over $4.00 at the local fruit mart for a mushy, overripe, grainy melon to make you crave the real homegrown thing. Of course with a 5 hour drive it makes it a little expensive to just drop by and pick up some. So we made the trip last weekend, and came back loaded down with everything under the sun. Juicy watermelons, crisp, and perfectly ripe, musky cantaloupes fragrantly smelling up the truck. Orange pumpkins, with warts, that I fell in love with immediately. Corn, that is unlike anything you have ever tasted. Along with carrots, and potatoes from my Dad’s garden. You can start drooling now. There was red Russian garlic at the farmers market, do you have any idea how hard it is to get good garlic that isn’t grown in China around here? Almost impossible. And my massive harvest of 5 heads isn’t going to take us far.

With all the rain that we drooped through during the long weekend, it seemed easier to put off picking until it dried up. With such a short trip, time went quickly, and we found ourselves forced to forage in the dark, the night before we left, with the glare of the headlights illuminating the pumpkin patch in order to choose the perfect “great warty pumpkin.” The dogs thought this was great fun, and in the inky blackness ran past us so fast they almost knocked me over. My nephew was so helpful in picking out the melons in the dark, it seems he has a real talent for that. Because at that point I would have just settled for anything near the road, thanks H.!

All of this just makes me more determined to move upcountry, because I hope that the first thing we are able to do when we get settled is plant a veggie garden. With visions of orange pumpkins, and red garlic dancing in my head.

You all know the story. We have heard the rants. Internalized the numerous streams of venom put forth by the angry masses. Admittedly, I am one of them. The lack of foresight caused 57 runners in my category to DNF, the scorching heat too much for them. We could only guess what medical malady befell them. The same lack of foresight had my friend overcome by heat stroke and hyperventilation 500 meters from the finish line, resulting in a 2 hour stint at Makati Med. Ironically, if only the course had been accurate he should have finished it straight up. If there's one saving grace, they released results which took into account the excess 500 - 600 m on the route. The resulting distance adjustment gave me a PR of 2:14:36, which I hazard compensates for the initial time lost. Anyway, here was my after-race take on the whole thing as posted on the Takbo.ph forums : As has been customary for me already (and the lack of a blog notwithstanding), here's a comprehensive post on my Botak 21k race. A fair amount of vitriol has already been spewed by Deo and supahatdog in the earlier posts, so I'll give you my take on it. The first warning sign for me was when I heard from the gang that the 21k start time was 6 am bigla. Only 2 days before I had called the Botak office and was informed of a 5 am start. So I was sort of weirded out by that. Everyone was getting conflicting information. So I decided I'll arrive at 5am just to be sure. I was alarmed because at 6am, people would be running well into the 8 am - 9 am range already. Would this be a portent of things to come? So we started at 6 am. 5:58 on my 305. Attempted to pace Sam for 5k, he fell back at 1 1/2 k mark. First k was 4:35, 2nd k was 5:02. He was the only guy I remotely ran with. 97% of the race I was alone

At 10k mark I was at 55:34 and liking my chances. Running in Rockwell was neat as well, kahit uphill siya. Coming off a pretty nice run the previous week at ATC, my goal was to significantly improve my Greenfield PR of 2:19 something. Then it happened. What happened? The heat happened. Yes, the heat. Good ol' 32 degrees with 66% humidity. I never knew what the desert felt like until awhile ago. It was crippling, debilitating, paralyzing (I'm running out of adjectives) to the point of hilarity. At the 10k mark I was maintaining a healthy 5:30 or so pace. By the time the race was over I had surrendered a full minute off that

So what happened to me from 10k to 16k? - Hookers in Burgos waved at me. I waved back. - Jeepneys in Burgos nearly sideswiped me. I couldn't sideswipe back. - The area near South avenue I got several seemingly innocuous comments of "Japorms" from fun bystanders. - I had at least 2 guys (21k dudes also) ask me "Bakit ang dami mong tali?" (Does this mean they either got lost or took a shortcut? Guess the race marshals took off for colder fronts) - I had agonizing km splits reaching up to 8:24

So sue me, I couldn't breathe anymore, it was like the oxygen was sucked out of the surroundings already. My original plan was to pick up the pace from the 17k mark onwards and "earn back" the pace I had lost. I was marginally, nominally successful at best. The heat and humidity were too much. The best I could muster with all my might was a 6:25, followed by mid 7's till the end. From the 16- 21 k mark these were the sights : - Runners fighting the people at the water stations because there's no water - Runners walking Kalayaan Flyover - Runners walking everywhere - Runners quitting and sitting on the curb to take a break. - "Ang init no?" entrenching itself as the unintentional comedy quote of the day. - An "elite" looking guy (crew cut, short shorts) paced by me at the 18k mark and asked, "May tubig ka ba?" in a seemingly imposing and authoritative way. So I um, gave him the Gatorade I was saving for my final push. He muttered what seemed like a rudimentary form of "thank you" and promptly sped off. Nice guy. With the sun in all its bedazzling glory, for the first time in my life I have felt how it was to run in a desert with no breathable air. My goals suddenly shifted from setting a PR to merely getting out of there in one piece. It was debilitating to say the least. A test of sheer will if you may. In the cornucopia of things that make up the runner's psyche, one has to think "Should I go for broke and risk collapsing, or should I just focus on survival?" I was feeling horrible, I thought I would pass out several times. Mentally, I was pushed to the very limit. The death zone from 19k - 21k had "QUIT" written all over it. In the end, prudence won out over glory. In spite of the crushing circumstances, I was somehow blessed to finish the race at 2:17:28 chopping off 2 mins and 20 seconds off my current 21k PR. I felt horrible. And to make matters worse, when I crossed the finish line a kid was running recklessly towards me, causing me to jump to avoid him. This in turn triggered a strain in my hammy I still feel as I am typing this. Final Thoughts? - I will never ever run a 21k race that starts at 6am during the summer. - Running with jeeps beside you is not fun at all - The course was 21.47 on my 305. That's nearly half a kilometer. A half kilometer that translates into 3-4 minutes lost on your time. Sayang naman. - I was super worried about Doc Roy, Doc Sherwin, and Coach Pojie for their 42k run, given the punishing conditions and no water support. I am so happy and proud that they finished it in one piece and got their medals Way to go guys! - Congratulations to Edu for setting a new 10 K PR taking it in 56 something and finally breaching the 57 mark! Good job! - I am proud that other 21k runners like Deo,Boss Rico, Tim, Bong and Sam among others fought through the punishing elements to finish. Lesser men would have quit.Your determination and will is something that makes us all proud.

Frugality: fru·gal adj.

The quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty or economical in the use of consumable resources and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance. Not cheap, just frugal, it’s fun. Really it is. Trust me… Last summer I used the clothesline instead of the dryer to dry our laundry on, and ended up with a allergic reaction to pollen and dust that caused itchy rashes for weeks.

Then I started to make my own yogurt and if that’s not a scientific experiment ready to go wrong, I am not sure what is. The first time it was nerve racking to pour that much milk into the slow cooker, did I not mention that we make it in the slow cooker? It’s all over Pinterest.

It turned out tasty, and just a little thinner then I liked it, no problem, eat it, and try again. The third time was no charm, unless you like to eat yogurt that tastes like that last night’s Korean beef tacos… which were delish, but not how I wanted my yogurt to taste. What a waste, it was inedible… I learned that no matter how much I cleaned the slow cooker, the condensation that dripped from the lid might taint the mild creamy yogurt… so now I put a piece of wax paper under the lid and no more problems.

Let’s move onto my new homemade “frugal” laundry soap… less expensive then the current organic laundry soaps we are buying. Great ideas abound on Pinterest, so I perused a few recipes and eventually choose a simple 3 ingredient laundry soap. Washing soda, Borax, and castile soap instead of Blue Dawn. Thank goodness I didn’t pour it into a soap container… because it turned out thicker then the yogurt and now we have laundry paste. Thick, mushy, pure, no pour laundry paste, that doesn’t dissolve in cold water. Great… another failure?

No a live and learn, and make do, kind of lesson. After all how do you think they invented stuff if they didn’t make a few mistakes along the way. I saved enough money to pay for the electricity the dryer uses all winter by making my own yogurt… next week we might give up the vehicles, and bike everywhere…… But I think we are going to have to stop experimenting with being our own Chiropractors, no matter what the tutorial on Pinterest tells us… my arm looks really funny sticking out backwards…… I’m kidding! I doubled the recipe, and am wondering if the castile soap has made it gel up… anyone have any experience with making your own laundry soap, or your own yogurt? I’d love some hints, and I am not giving up… yet. Frugally…

So, today it was sunny, and then it rained, all at the same time. Kind of fun to see the rain bouncing off of the hood of the neighbours truck with the sun shining through it.

It really pours when it rains, but 5 minutes later the sun dries everything up. Our stage two water restrictions are tight, we can water by hand every second day, and it’s only for a few hours. If you want your plants to live, you learn to stay home during your water day and get those gardens watered. This is only the end of May, makes me worried about what is going to happen during the hot summer months. I don’t care about the lawn, it can go brown, but this is the first year for my plants from the coast, and I hope we can continue to water them. Of course that hasn’t deterred some of our neighbours who still insist on sprinkling their lawns during the heat of the day, when ever it suits them… life isn’t the same for everyone.

Picked our first radishes, yes, we are a little behind up here, but the salad greens are growing, and the peas are up to 12 inches tall now.

The sweet peas I planted over a month ago have just come through the soil, they had better hurry up before the heat.

That’s a squash flower, and I am hoping for many more, and some growth. The days are really warm, but the nights are still cool, so the cukes, and squash plants are rather static.

I found the loveliest little clematis for cheap the other day, and here it is rewarding me with a bloom already.

It’s marked for a spot on the fence out back, I am just hoping that my neighbour doesn’t chop it down. He likes to trim the grass under the fence a little close for comfort, and anything that hangs over his side, will and can be chopped down… he is very tidy! Maybe I can bribe him with a spool of weed wacker twine and he will let it grow.

That’s a pretty picture up above isn’t it? Beautiful water, reflection, trees… That’s why its so hard to believe that something so beautiful can cause me so much discomfort. Trees, gorgeous, green, stately, graceful trees. Oh grass, and apples, potatoes, and eggplant. I mean who is allergic to apples, and carrots? Well…me. I think that of all the serums they guinea pigged me with, I reacted to each and every one. But the absolute worst were tree pollens, and grasses. We are talking out of the stratosphere, over the top reactions.

That’s not good news for a gardener. How do you avoid trees? I love trees. So that explains a lot, why I had such a bad rash all summer on my face. Why I couldn’t go outside at all this year, and why things I ate bothered my skin. I am allergic to almost everything. Wow, it feels like that. When the allergist hands you a sheet of paper, that they normally circle a few items on that you might be allergic to, and each group is circled. You are in trouble, deep, no more gardening until they get this figured out trouble. No more potato chips, no more tomatoes, no seafood, no fun.

Allergy shots here I come. They are not cheap, but the alternative he told me, was Asthma. No thanks, so twice a week for? who knows how long. After all, I love gardening, and I love trees, so what should a gardener do? BTW, I am only slightly allergic to cats! Whoooo hooo! Because like I told the allergist, there was NO way I was giving Boo another home. Never, call me silly, but I love my Boo. Even if it did mean living with allergies. So who else out there is living with severe allergies, or taking allergy shots? I would love to know if they work.

Hi there everybody. What's up? My name is Rain. And I'm convinced ... . that runners hate me. Days like these, I just want to go out and hang around. This is my time of the year. Do you realize how booooring it could be when my good-for-nothing sister dominates the scene? You know, Summer? She thinks she's sooooooo hot. Well, uh, um, I have to agree. She thinks she's all that. But I've seen people around these parts. They hate her. Curse her very presence in the vernacular. ( sample : !@#$ ang init sa Pilipinas!) Promise! But enough about her. This is my time, and I revel in bringing smiles to the denizens of this metropolis. See those kids jumping up and down the street? They like me! See those little men in weird hats in the fields? They thrown parties when I get here! I even see movie stars dance for me in one of them box-office blockbusters. Boy that was a riot. Sarah Geronimo is so cute. Sigh. It feels so good to be loved.

Would have been perfect. Save for one group I can't seem to get a grip on. Runners. They abhor my very presence. I don't even know what I did wrong. I'll give you guys an example. It's a wonderful Tuesday afternoon, and I'm just going out for a walk. My perfect day is ruined by this dude in shorts waaay tooo short and a watch waaay to big for his own good. Why the forlorn look? He looks so crabby. Whiny even. Ohhh. Must be a runner. Oh. I know this guy. He works in that place where there are a lot of young people. He wears those long flowing things that look like curtains. Wears a cap everytime he runs. Maybe because his hair is horrible. Maybe he just likes to hide his face. Hmph. But yeah. He hates me. He's grumbling to what looks like a big fat cat. Oh, it's a dog. A big fat dog. Geez what do they feed this thing. My bad. No wonder they're called man's best friend. They just keep on listening. Hmm. Anyway, this dude wants to run, but he doesn't like me around. He looks so... down. Check him out... I'm convinced... ..

Looks pretty down eh? And of course the blame goes all back to me. He whines. He whines because his clothes are drenched, because his socks in his fancy gait-analyzed shoes would get wet. He sardonically thanks the gods for his good fortune. Hmph. I hope his watch breaks down. He runs along as I observe. He steps unto a puddle , !@#$ is what you hear. This guy needs to get out more. He is putting his hands behind his back so that his fancy watch won't get wet. Like it won't. Read the manual buddy! IPX7! Submersible! 1 meter! Even I know that! He runs into this really fast dude. I see him all the time as well, seems to be from around here. I mean, he is fast. So they run together, he manages to keep up for like 2k, then really fast dude is gone. Guess what? He blames me for not being able to keep up! Runners.

Oh the horror! The nerve! That really upset me. Upset me to the point that I cried so hard. No one has maltreated me like that. Ever! I cried my heart out because I didn't even do anything. *Sob* Then something unbelievably incredible happened. Mr. evil runner guy, in solitary mode because the fast bald dude made him eat dust, suddenly smiled amidst my sorrow. That took me by surprise. I could almost hear his thoughts as his soaked persona glided through the drenched alleyways of his favorite training jaunt... ... .

Yeah. Why did I even do this. Stupid Rain. I will be sooo sick later. The Garmin's probably messed up. I am completely drenched. My socks feel gross. Dang I really had to catch Javy aka Tri'n Hard on tempo run/fartlek day. He's on a totally different level. And because of the rain, my projected 20k mileage builder turned into a 7k race pace run. I'm exhausted. Out of shape. It's the rain's fault. Should have done the Sarah/John Lloyd rain dance. Since Sunday. It won't go away. Had to cancel all my runs. I'll get sick eh. Daw. At least that's what the old people said. But you know what? This is actually... .. fun! I feel like a kid again. It's so cold. I feel so relaxed. Why am I so scared about getting sick? It's just water anyway. The old folks just like to scare you I guess. But hey, I am genuinely enjoying this .

Everyone is running for cover and they're all looking at me like I'm some crazy lunatic but hey, I don't care. This is strangely... therapeutic... ... I never realized. You see a microcosm of the metropolis - the hustle going yin/yang against the bustle of our mundane lives, all seemingly frozen in time as a virtual snapshot is encapusulated in a single raindrop. Awesome.Everything seems to be moving in slow motion amidst the deluge. I am in conplete control, freedom of movement married to a psyche completely bereft of any negativity at that precise moment. I feel... . alive.

Sigh. Just when I had counted him out. People. I could never figure them out.

My name is Rain. And I'm convinced... ...

That runners don't hate me after all.

It seems like so many times I take photos meaning to blog about them in the near future, and then they get put into the photo archives, and forgotten. Sure it’s great fun to look at sweltering hot sidewalks in the middle of the winter, “sweetie, can you turn down the heat a bit please, this summer photo is making me sweat.’ [As if] And then we have the snowdrop photos from last week. All week I have been meaning to look them up on the computer, they weren’t too sharp, it was pretty dim when I visited my secret snowdrop place. And I forgot, other things took precedence, work being one of them. So here I am writing about yesterday’s news, and those snowdrops are probably huge by now. But a full week of rain has made it pretty impossible to get out and shoot anything.

Yesterday’s news, both a good thing, and a bad thing I guess. There are some events you are glad that are over, like a visit to the dentist, or a work week.

And then there are others you want to take out, give a good shake, sit down and savour them. Like the sight of Bootsie running around the condo, tail up, legs akimbo, ferociously stalking a unseen prey. Finally himself again after two bouts with a mysterious high fever. A hug from Gar, it’s the reason my day stays on track. The feeling of the sun on my skin, that’s one to keep for those rainy days, bring it out and savour it through the clouds. The thought of spring… need I say more? Let me know what yours are.