Dream home

One thing about this house is that, strictly speaking, there is no “living room” and “dining room.” Instead, there is a living area and a dining area. Meaning, the dining and living areas are contiguous and no wall divides them. Now I like every area of the house to be defined. The easiest solution would [...]

Continue reading 'Defining a section of the house' →

Yesterday, after getting a much needed haircut, I passed by a couple of garden landscapers in preparation for the much delayed garden project. We have bluegrass and I’m not so happy with it.

It came with the landscaped garden and we weren’t really planning on overhauling anything except that there is a portion of the [...]

Continue reading 'The right grass for a lawn in a tropical garden' →

Two months ago, we planted two sturdy branches of malunggay in the garden. They were cuttings from a mature tree owned by an aunt of one of the house helpers. It took a while but it looks like we’re finally going to have a steady supply of malunggay.

I can almost taste it… clams and malunggay [...]

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Last Saturday, we had a party. A joint birthday party — mine, Buddy’s (my brother-in-law) and Buddy’s girlfriend, Laura. A family affair, really, but Speedy has a big family so it was not a small party. The only small part was my side of the family because I have only one sibling. It was loads [...]

Continue reading 'Furnishing the office / study' →

If you go around malls and interior decoration shops and boutiques, you will notice that fortune plants — a favorite indoor plant because they require little maintenance — are often placed in glass vases (or crystal in high-end shops). Pebbles are placed on the bottom of the vase, the stalks of fortune plant are inserted [...]

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There are four remaining areas in the house that are quite unfinished. Structurally, they are complete but they still need to be furnished to be functional. One of these areas is my study/office but it’ll be fully furnished by the middle of the month. Honestly, it should have been a priority considering the amount of [...]

Continue reading 'The wind chimes in the gazebo' →

Two months ago, I posted photos of some of the herbs and fruit trees in the garden. Those photos show the herbs still in pots and troughs. We have since replanted them, interspersing them with the ornamental plants to give the garden a more pulled together look.
When the herbs were replanted, we had to [...]

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Back in the old house, the front and back garden had steps made of cast concrete slabs with embedded pebbles. This variety of garden steps is the most common and they are available in different shapes and sizes. We didn’t exactly choose this kind of steps, it came with the landscaping job.

I have two issues [...]

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Ever since we saw this house and decided to buy it, I always dreamed of hanging bamboo blinds on the living room and dining room windows. I also thought that bamboo blinds would look great in my office/study. Bamboo blinds are elegant, environment-friendly and they come in so many designs and shades. Little did I [...]

Continue reading 'The problem with bamboo / matchstick / grass blinds' →

One of the posts of the gate that leads to the garden was designed with a planter on top. It’s empty right now.

A similar planter is on the post of the second floor veranda.

Of course, I don’t want them to stay empty. The thing is, these planters have no drainage. So, I can only plant [...]

Continue reading 'Looking for a small flowering plant that likes a lot of water' →