Happy Graduation

My two kids (our young ladies), sophia and alexandria  finally finished highschool from the Holy Cross Academy of Sasa,Davao City(mindanao. as parent This is our initial achievement and theirs as well as the graduates that is after four years of grueling school classes and activities honing them into what they are now- ready to take take the next level . Thanks to the HCAS and their teachers who molded our kids and made them  ready for the next phase of their self-development.

But as we celebrate it with a smile, as parents we feel we are facing another daunting task also --- that challenge is of course sending them to college  which is not  an easy task well, financially speaking and in our case. That said, we really have to double our efforts. Wish us luck. :-)

Photos

Feathery Visitor

The other day, I was surprised to see a bird locally known as Piruk-Piruk (Yellow-Wattled Bulbul?) which is endemic in the region and a favorite targets of sling-toting kids in the neighborhood. Perhaps, the birdie was busy picking up "mansanitas(The aratiles fruit is known in other countries as Jamaican cherry, Panama berry, Singapore cherry, bolaina yamanaza, cacaniqua, capulín blanco, nigua, niguito, memizo, or memiso. In certain areas of the Philippines, these little red fruits are called manzanitas (“small apples”), also spelled mansanitas or manchanitas)." outside when it was attacked by an aggressive fellow birdie. As it panicked, the bird took a wrong lane towards the open door of my working area. And in a sec, it collided with the glass window header at my back that caused it to crash landing. I heard the solid sound of a thud. I picked up the poor birdie and let it regain energy from the mishap probably from minor injury it got from the accident. I did not find its black box though. :-)


It took the birdie about 5 minutes before it finally regained power under its wings and flew out again.

Paosio

I'm joking. It's siopao not paosio. It all started with a question: what is the reverse of "siopao"? For the slow thinker, the answer would be "paosio"! LOL. The answer is "paper" because siopao sets on a a piece of paper or wax paper. I like to cook for my kids. The latest is siopao. Yes I just learned recently on how to make siopao. This is an instant fave snack food for the kids knowing how they love siopao sold here at Php12 a piece. While it is usually stuffed with pork or chicken asado, my siopao is filled with, instead, corned beef and quick-melt cheese.  

My ingredients: all-purpose flour, lard, brown sugar, dry yeast, baking powder, quick-melt cheese and small can corned beef.

Sunlight and Watercolor Painting

 

One fine morning (Davao is cold these past days), I noticed that the sunlight hit our small dining area. This is always the case as observed during January where probably our location changed a light position in relation to the great sun. 

The second photo features my rough watercolor painting. Rough because this is one of the few watercolor paintings I did in an attempt to go back to paint more subjects after a long time hiatus, so to speak. The last time that I seriously painted and joined group art exhibits was in 1996. The whole year then I was active in the local art scene and then took a long respite after I focused on office work and put painting in the sidelight. I really miss doing it and the feeling of fulfillment when you are able to come up with another "obra maestra." I do watercolor, acrylic, oil and pen and ink. I posted one of the watercolor (third pic) paintings I did in 1996.

Monkey Business

Who won't find this cute? Play it to figure out.