What do you do to relax?

My yellow gerbera. Very sensitive plant. Just a little excess water will make it droopy. My yellow begonia. I have red begonia as well. I love them. They are so beautiful. They just produce flowers and more flowers!

Do you go out and see a film? Do you go to the beach? Do you go out with friends to have a good laugh? You can actually do any of the above. My husband and I do different things like getting a DVD that we like. I get mine and he gets his - we like different films. I watch films on my own in the bedroom because I like girly flicks. He likes documentaries and war films. We also go to the beach and just sit there and relax. We go to a Thai treatment centre - I get a back, neck and shoulder massage which is completely heaven and husband gets a foot massage. But going to treatment centres to get this is luxury. With a tight budget, you cannot do this as often as you want it! Relaxing doesn't have to cost any of us a fortune. There is one thing that I have started doing and that truly helps me. Flower gardening!

Flower Gardening is therapeutic! I haven't done gardening my whole life. I am a beginner in this sort of thing. I had to buy books to help me. Even my husband who used to plant tomatoes and potatoes in his past life isn't very knowledgeable when it comes to flower gardening. So we both have to learn together. I'm finding it very interesting indeed. The potted plants above are the ones that are on my windowsill in the livingroom. I got them from a garden centre and the flowers were already blooming when I got them so I really didn't have to do much except to keep the compost moist at all times and to make sure they are fed. Watching the flowers bloom in the summer gives me the most relaxing feeling. We have a small garden in the front and back of the house that we try to maintain in whatever spare time we have. All the flowers are currently in bloom as well! An hour a day! And get some sleep! I have recently read in a magazine that we all have to get at least an hour a day to take our minds off things, forget all the worries and just sit and relax. It is not easy for me to do this especially when my boy is unwell. Husband and I have to be watchful 24/7. We get a little bit of rest when he is well enough to be at school. I make sure that I catch up on my sleep when I can. If my son is at home and he is ok and sleeping, I also go to bed and sleep. Husband sometimes doesn't feel like doing this. He finds it difficult to get some sleep just like that so he goes birdwatching when he can and he loves this so much. Lastly, Just do nothing. Remember when we were children when we would be outside doing nothing. Just looking blankly in space perhaps. Or looking at absolutely nothing. We probably looked like we were daydreaming but really it's doing nothing. If you have read one of Richard Templar's books, The Rules of Life, Rule No 24 is 'Leave a little space for yourself each day.' On the second paragraph, he asked, 'So what are you going to do with that time?' His answer: absolutely nothing. But in this busy world, as grown-ups, we are no longer used to doing nothing. My husband once said to my GP during one of my check-ups, 'My wife, as soon as she wakes up, she starts to do something. She never sits down. She is always doing something! Washing the dishes, hoovering, doing the laundry. I have to ask her to sit down with me in the lounge and just watch the telly!' My GP just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders, then said, 'You've got to relax a little bit.' She is right. My husband is right. Richard Templar is right. I have to stop and relax. We all do. So after posting this, I'm going to sit in the living room and do nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Love Yourself - The Retrochick Challenge

What do you love about yourself? One of my favourite blogs, Retrochick, posted a challenge to list 5 good things we love about ourselves. I wasn't tagged but would like to take up the challenge! I think Retrochick and us women have things we don't like about ourselves. But it's true what Retrochick said, we don't usually say the good things about ourselves. That's why this is a challenge! This is Retrochick's challenge: Love yourself for who you are and what you really look like under all of those vintage clothes. Pick out 5 things about yourself that you think are beautiful and post them on your blog, facebook, whatever. Then, pick 5 other people in blogland and post one thing about that person that you love (and really envy them for!) - this one I will do on next post. I don't know if it's got something to do with age but these days, I don't spend hours in front of the mirror like I did when I was younger. Don't get me wrong, I am not that old, ha! But I do remember the days when I'd take every chance I could get to look at myself in the mirror, even checking my reflection out when I'd walk past a glass panel or a shop window! That's how vain I was in my past life. I also used to practice my best smile, that kind of smile where the tiny dimple on my left cheek would show...I'm not sure if it was a dimple though...more like a tiny wrinkle to me. Anyways, before I forget the main purpose of this post, I must begin! What I like about myself...here goes: My nose. I like my nose that it isn't too flat and it isn't too pointed. Just right. In the Philippines, they call it 'matangos', meaning 'pointed.' But really when you move to a place where everybody has a pointed nose, mine becomes flat. When you look at Filipino women and I'm one of them, I will not look different. We all look alike. But I still like my nose. My husband doesn't seem to think it's different from other noses but I like it. Full stop. My skin. I like it that it is light brown. I like it that I don't have to go to get a tan. I like it that in my teenage years, I didn't suffer from lots of pimples. I like it this way. This reminds me of an ex-boyfriend who made me feel like I was ugly because I was light brown. He'd be so angry with me when I'd expose myself in the sun and would annoyingly get an umbrella for me to use - just because I was already brown! He wanted me to have lighter skin because he thought the lighter your skin is, the prettier you are! Yes, girls, I dumped him. My lips. I like them that they are full. My husband says they are nice because they are not too full, just right. My hair. I like it that it is dark brown. I can colour it jet black or light brown. But I cannot get any more colour other than black or brown. I don't want experimenting too much on hair colour. I just like the colour of my hair as it is. Although these days, I have to start hiding the grey hair that's starting to appear! Hmp! My Eyes. I like them that they are brown. They look black from afar but if you look closer, they are brown. My mother told me that when I was born, my eyes were blue! Now I don't know if I'd believe that or not but the colour changed as I was growing up. Can you imagine a brown woman with blue eyes! I wonder if my eyes were blue today, would I look normal??? I have not been blessed with long eyelashes like other women. My friend Nisha has the most beautiful long eyelashes...and I just love looking at her big brown eyes and long lashes! Sadly, I don't have that. But not to worry, I can always get false eyelashes if I want to! Now, I must tag 5 friends to do the same! I am tagging Gemma, Ruthi, Betchai, Wen and MJ to do the same! You can do this by posting this on your blog or on your wall on Facebook or Twitter...whichever or whatever way you wish to do it. You can do it too even if I have not tagged you! I will be posting my 5 favourite bloggers on next post and list things I love about them! I'd like to repeat what Retro Chick said at the end of her post: We are all fabulous!

A song in my head

Has this ever happened to you? You listen to a song, then you start singing it as you do your everyday activities and then don't stop for days? You can't stop singing the same song everyday. It is stuck in your head. Yes, it's happened to me. It is actually happening to me now. It's not that I don't like the song....but it just makes me wonder why a song can get stuck in one's brain and doesn't go away? I'm sharing with you the song, with lyrics, perhaps it will get stuck in your head, too? To listen to the song, please click here. Loving Arms by Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge If you could see me now The one who said That he'd rather roam The one who said He'd rather be alone If you could only see me now If I could hold you now Just for a moment If I could really make you mine Just for awhile Turn back the hands of time If I could only hold you now I've been too long in the wind Too long in the rain Takin' any comfort that I can Looking back and longing for The freedom of my chains And lying in you loving arms again If you could hear me now Singing somewhere in the lonely night Dreaming of the arms that held me tight If I could only hold you now Ooh I've been too long in the wind Too long in the rain Takin' any comfort that I can Looking back and longing for The freedom of my chains And lying in your loving arms again I can almost feel your loving arms again

How could anyone ever tell you?

I've posted this before but would like to post it again to remind us all that we are all beautiful inside. It is by Libby Roderick and although the song repeats the lyrics over and over, it is such a beautiful, meaningful song. I posted a link of the same song (but different version) to my sister's wall on Facebook as I could only think of her when I heard the song. I am now sharing it with all my friends. Please click here. I do hope you will like it.

It's almost summer!!!!

How has the weather been at your side of the world?

I can't lie. I sometimes miss the sun. I like it not too hot, not too cold, a little bit of sunshine and a little bit of the cold wind, just enough to be able to wear nice short-sleeved blouses, skirts and open-toe shoes! Today is just about the day to do that! I've enjoyed the Spring. Although the last few days were not really good as it rained a lot. I don't mind the rain, but the fact is - my clothes dryer broke and I now depend on either the radiator or the sun to dry all my washing! It's too warm to switch the radiator on so I have to dry the clothes outside. I haven't bought a new dryer yet as what we need now is a heavy-duty one which is much more expensive. So that will take a little bit of time. For now, I am hoping the weather will cooperate...(keeping my fingers crossed!) Nonetheless, Spring has been lush. There were days when I thought of digging my closet to get my winter coat back on the coat hanger to get it ready...but I've been fine with a sweater on or my beige mac.

The shoes I got from Asda for £18!

A week or so ago, husband and I went to Asda to do some food shopping...but of course I wouldn't miss what new items George have got so we went to the Women Clothes section. I found two embellished blouses that look so lovely! What's more - they were on sale! One was originally £18 but was that day on £8.00 and the other one was originally £14.00 but I got it for £6.00! Really good value for money! I also got a pair of open-toe shoes for £18.00!

The embellishments on these blouses are so intricate - I don't think I could do them myself! They are just so beautiful! They remind me of the attractiveness of authentic Asian Fashion which I can only find in the Philippines.

I also took the white pair of shoes I got from Rusty Lopez in the Philippines last year which are just so lush. I was wearing them yesterday and it was fine, although there was a spit of rain. I love Rusty Lopez! I could get quality shoes without breaking the bank. I wish I bought more pairs though when I was in Manila last year.

I hope you are all enjoying the sun! In the Philippines, I heard from my sister that it's been so hot! I do hope that despite the heat, you get to enjoy it by going out more but using protection from the sun. Wear comfortable clothes to keep you cool. Where my friends are - in America, Japan, Korea and Canada, I do hope you will have a beautiful, warm summer months! Enjoy!