The Convivial Gist

She was roused from her sleep by her husband.  Bird sighting alert! A hawk just landed on their backyard deck.  She immediately scrambled out of bed and tiptoed to the kitchen window. They did not exchanged word for fear of startling the magnificent bird, both of them impervious to the fact that their house was insulated from the din of the outside world. They stood there in awe, hoping this feathered creature would stay for a little much longer. And it did! He was  in for the hunt, looking for his prey amongst the various rodents that create a ruckus at this time of day in the small expanse of green.   The territorial cardinal When did this  morning ritual of  bird watching started, two, three or four months ago? They can not recall, what they remembered were the joys of watching the cadre of  sparrows feeding, the brilliant scarlet red of the matured cardinals pecking on the hapless sparrows,  the soft coos of the graceful mourning doves, the swelling breasts of the chi

Corollary to my previous blog on rehashing Christmas cards by converting them into tree ornaments , I tried and I am still trying to stick to my commitment of  spending  zero dollar on Xmas tinsels this year. Well, since my hands I are tied in relation to opening my wallet to Christmasize my crib, I opted to  let my imagination run wild with what I have currently on hand in  such a way that my decor would  look new and fresh.  1.  I have these red fabric with gold dragon prints in my storage box, ( purchased from one of my vintage shopping hunts from ages ago ( that means a month of so and it costs me 3 yards for $ 4 dollars). I do not know how to sew a throw pillow cover but I taught myself by getting the pattern from an existing cover that I have. Since I am zipper challenged, envelope type of pillow covers are such a breeze for me to create.  Changing the Throw Pillow Covers to Xmas Colors , the cat is not included in the decor. 2.  I hung the recycled Xmas fan card in m

 Photo from Getty Images.com  One lady in  my social networking page was griping about football taking precedence over  church attendance  on Sunday.  I can commiserate with her but on a different scale. Lucky for me, play time for my husband's favorite football team starts at 3 pm so it does  not run counter with our church schedule but if it does, there's always the DVR to do it. It's hard to compete with sports e.g. baseball and football specially when its in full season. I thought I was done and over with that. Growing up in a one television household with my older brother hooked on sports for the behemoths (basketball) in the land peopled by the vertically challenged (that is compared to a giant, no offense meant to my people, the Filipinos), he  would slyly  preempt any chance for me to switch channel  to my favorite TV show, I rue the fact that remote was not yet invented during that time ; as a consequence I developed a furtive enmity towards broadcaste

Travelling... leaving home for an exotic and unfamiliar locale surely evokes excitement. When I was growing up in the sleepy barrio in the Southern Luzon in the Philippines, I am always wondering what lies beyond the mountains and the seas that enclosed my little world. But this notion was in between my preoccupation of trying to get ahead with the childhood game of tumbang preso so that I won't end up being labeled as bagoong (salted paste made from shrimps and small fish). Later on in life, I developed an insatiable itch for discovering what lies further the confines of my abode. I considered those travels as one most important chapter of my adult life. These are experiences and memories that like education, are always portable and it goes with you all the time. I was wondering why to some people, travelling is such a daunting task, an interruption to their prosaic life. As if, they are about to leave their cocoon, that stepping outside their comfort zone is akin to doing

The time of  yuletide season is in our doorstep. The Christian world and other believers of Christmas will be in state of perpetual  tizzy.  Credit cards bloodletting will soon commence and the lists of gifts for loved and not so loved ones are like albatross hanging on every psyche of the gift givers. In this days of austerity, some people  are either mortgaged induced homeless or redundant/downsized casualties, be smart on gift giving.  I am not sure if I can practice what I am ranting in this blog  about gift giving but I am not buying any Christmas decor this year.  I would rehash, rework, recycle, reposition or any verb or word that has re as a prefix on it, all my existing yuletide ornaments. I will probably paint my much loved and much spoiled cat Pinay, Grinch green as part of my mobile noel decoration. I even contemplated deleting people from my fabled Xmas cards lists to save some trees and  drive the bottom line of United States Postal Service  further into red (stamps p

I am a tropical person, so much so that I dread the onset of cold weather here in the Midwest.  It makes  me lazy going out of my temperature controlled abode for it means putting on five to ten pounds of clothing. Shrink wrapping your body is no fun but getting pneumonia ain't no picnic either. When you used to live in a country which  is within the blistering range of the equatorial sun, any precipitations in the temperate zones sounds so nice and fuzzy. After living here for almost 6 years, I wish my sisters in the Philippines can send me barrels and barrels of sweltering sunshine to keep me warm on cold blustery winter time.  So its time to fandangle my winter caps. Last summer, I picked up a fleece cap and beanie cap. It was  the best time to buy these for the prices were outrageously cheap. The hats are kinda plain , a little bit of tweaking are needed so here's what I came up. Yellow fleece cap with felt flower pin. I have this corsage pin for my summer dre

Vertically challenged we the Filipinos are, yet we love the sport of basketball where height is definitely a might.  Growing up with my older brother in one television household,  my chances of watching my favorite shows were remote as me winning jueteng (local numbers game) when the pro basketball season was on. Boxing is another sport that Filipinos have affectation for.  I think we have better chances to succeed  in this sport, we have the physical built and mental toughness to survive in the pugilist arena.   Interestingly, a nephew of my husband, Manuel Mora recently published his book , Stanley Ketchel  A Life of Triumph and Prophecy , and it's out in the market.  It's an engaging story of an American boxer, I had read the rough draft of the book and I am pretty adamant that this will be a  good read. Check out the book especially if you are a boxing aficionado or just to learn the life of an unsung American Boxer - Stanley Ketchel.  Click on the

The last time I was in Paris, the European continent was sizzling due to the heatwave. Me and my travelling buddy took a side trip to Barcelona and Paris en route to attend a friend's wedding in London.  We were supposed to represent our company's  CEO in that wedding hence it's a freebie trip.  My TB (travelling buddy) had relatives working in Spain and France so our accommodations were taken care of .   As espoused by the queen of irony -  Jessica Zafra of  the impending world domination of Filipinos via diaspora - for wanna be globe trotters; start making lists of relatives to the nth degree of consanguinity living abroad or even people you are remotely related.  You might need them if you ever caught the travel itch but can only spare for the airfare and pasalubong (presents/keepsake) or you will end up eating ramen all the time. Filipinos abroad still practice their genuine unequaled hospitality .  When my niece and I were in a hotel in Antwerp Belgium,  the Filipi

Espresso Chocolate Mega Cupcake for Pinay   Key Lime Pie Pantry shelf chocolate Orange cake  Ricciarelli - Seines (almond)  Macaroons  Cheers, our cat Pinay turned 4 today.  In lieu of this auspicious occasion I baked a ginormous  Espresso Cupcake for her in spite of the fact that she does not fancy a brew of any kind or  my gourmet creations for that matter.  Oh, maybe it was  just my excuse every year this time in October to fill myself with calorie boosting  food.   A friend of mine from England gifted me this recipe book by Nigella Lawson, How to Be a Domestic Goddess .  I am a late bloomer when it comes to baking, I find it a daunting task, messy and I believe the probability of my failing in this field is as high as the current unemployment index.  I assumed my friend gave this to me to compel me to explore the intricacies of  the exact science of baking. This book is easy to use for a newbie like me.  I enjoyed reading the musings of the aut

  Dr. Gunther Von Hagen's Skinman       Coming in the bedroom, she was suffused in ethereal peacefulness emanating from the horizontal shafts of morning lights streaming from the window blinds bathing her sleeping cat on the bed. Odd it may seems,this scene impels her to write on issue of race.     She met her husband on line almost 7 years ago and  married him for love.  A native of a third world country, considering the circumstances of how they met, it is common to assume that she may be one of the many who will marry a foreigner for economic reasons, a mercantile refugee. She has a comfortable life in her native country, a house paid for, a chauffeur, financially rewarding career, traveled a lot and indulged in hosts of activities that single women would do. Why would she leave this comfort zone for a man, live 8,249 miles  from her family and friends, kibitzed by her expatriate acquaintances.       Well, in life there is always a trade off, she mused, you c

For some woman, it is considered  sacrilegious to wear  the same outfit that was worn before to another occasion, apropos with her shoes.  If you have a talent for dressmaking or you have your own seamstress (lucky me I got  3 dressmaker sisters) , then the dress can be altered but you are somewhat limited to what you can do with it, maybe accessorize it or forget about it. I hang on to my shoes as much as possible, especially if the fit is excellent and  it is not giving me  mountains of bunions or calluses as rough as sandpaper .  Eventually I will get tired of  the shoe  but it is mighty difficult to give it away, donate it or throw it. Then maybe its time to pimp the shoes, add more pizzas to it , make it look new. When my vanity outsizes my bank account, then my creativity rears its beautiful head . I thought of getting shoe clips, its like clips used for earrings, or ready made shoe clips ranging from floral to funky but it will set you back for $20.00 or so.  Check on Et

   Door Stopper  Last night, while I was in the roiling sea of  back pain, I decided to keep my creative juices on a high gear to to keep my mind off the pain. Our cat Pinay has an issue with our bedroom door.  She will meow, scratch her clawless paw on the door until you open it for her, she prefers it to be a little bit ajar.  You see, she wants to have the liberty of moving in to our bed  so that she can curl with us or have her neck rub .  If you are ready for a sleepless night then shut it tight.  We can not use the wedge door stopper for some reasons that I will not waste time discussing on my blog.  My husband uses his shoe, and it irritates me for it has no aesthetic sense. In order to solve this pestering issue, I made a door stopper. I got the inspiration on line. See the attached link if your cats need one.                                                                 Materials was a fabric that is used for outside furniture and throw pil

The two pound bag of King Arthur Flour 100% organic whole wheat flour (wheat germ and bran, never bleached and never bromated - it's written  on the package, I never made this up I swear) had been staring at me from the corner of my topmost pantry eversince my husband bought it for reason I am not aware of. Being a purveyor of saving, I hunted the net for a cookie recipe so that I can use the wheat flour and prevent it from ending in the landfill.  It's in allrecipe.com and the link  if you are interested  : http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/whole-wheat-chocolate-chip-cookies/Detail.aspx  . I decided to do it after lunch, that was when my husband was ensconced in his favorite chair ready to turn into a football coach potato yelling at the top of his lungs and occasionally cursing like a drunken sailor whenever his team team was winning or losing. Regretfully, St. Louis Rams lost despite the unsolicited coaching of my husband from his green leather chair. My lower back pa

I distinctly recalled what I was doing when Lady Diana had the fatal accident in Paris, it was one sweaty August afternoon and I was trying to balance my measly paycheck against my insurmountable pile of bills. Like any female besotted by a Princess, I was inconsolable.  9/11 tragedy - I associate it with women's shoes. You might wonder what twisted situation I was in at  that time.  I was figuratively burning the midnight oil doing a term paper for a lady friend (taking up fashion designing course)  of  the Executive who happens to be my superior on the evolution of ladies shoes.  The Executive, lugging tomes of hardbound books with glossy illustrations of  ladies footwear, non chalantly informed me that I need to do a 12 page paper on history of  women's shoes complete with bibliographies,references, photos etc. He needs it the next day.  I am an accountant by profession and not a Recto term paper writer.  I am well aware that this was beyond the scope of my job resp