For My Sweet Mum (Mother's Day Celebration 2013)

roses for Mum

Mum on Mother's Day

Mum and daughters




us with the colourful headgears Merle brought from Middle East

fruits and flowers and desserts
 

instead of the cupcakes loaded with saturated and transfats, we had gelatin adorned with fruits


 

fruits from the shop and flowers from my garden

 

 

For once I used the bigger Renaware my Mum and I bought. I never had the chance until today because Mum's chief cook just arrived from her holiday overseas.  

basket of flowers from my garden which Art arranged
 

Mum with that big smile

 

 

I am almost inclined  not to write anything on this post. As one song goes, a picture paints a thousand words.
 

Mother's Day Celebration has always been a big event for us, the main reason being we are celebrating the one great and loving person in our family--our mother Gloria delos Reyes Blanco
 

We, my siblings and I continually give thanks to God for giving us a mother like our Inay--this is how we all sweetly and adoringly call her.
 

Each of us calls her in different ways.  Nimrod calls her Mother; Rommel, Mommy; Cyn, Mummy; Daisy and Merle, no other way except Inay; and myself, Mum.
 

We also teasingly call  her  when her full denture is already soaked in Polident as Chichay, after the name of an actress who lost all her teeth, I am not sure if due to gum disease like our Mum; by her first name Gloria when we feel like she is like a peer and also Nene, her nickname when she was a kid and by which her older siblings and close friends call her.

What is in a name?

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet " is a commonly quoted part of a dialogue in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

We could call Mum by different names, nevertheless, all those names connote her same person---godly, prayerful, virtuous, loving, kind, generous and meek.

Mum is the reason for Mother's Day Celebration and for all any other celebrations there are.  We put all our energies to all these because there is only one thing that matters--to make our mother happy, to see that big smile on her face.

This 2013 Mother's Day Celebration, is memorable for me because for once we were able to use in a special celebration the pricey Renaware, my Mum and I bought in 1999.  The reason being our chief cook, Merle, just arrived from a big holiday from overseas.



In the confines of the Alumni Centre

In one of the edge of a page in my drawing book I wrote the following...in the confines of the Alfonso P. Roda Alumni Centre, on dark nights and early dawn...September 1998.  And if I may add, where words were scarce, and my gray matter  really tired trying to be an good research director and professor, I drew...

Breadless Breakfast/ Early morning...I got a bread toaster but no bread except a bowl of fruits.  Good enough for breakfast? Hmmm. Maybe..

My hat and apple...I gave the hat away to one of my postgraduate students and I naturally ate the apple for dinner.

My Louis Vuitton (??'?) work bag  Ooops, no way will I buy such an expensive bag.  I bought this in SM  for a couple of  hundred pesos.  And I loved it.

Duty free  food shopping  I shopped for an orange and an apple and picked a  flower  on my way back  to the  Alumni Centre.  I think the proportion of black to white here it too much.  Anyway, I just like to recall the fruits I bought when some facuty members of AUP invited me to go with them for duty free shopping.

My Thoughts in Black and White

I was going through my files and found the following which I must have drawn during my low moments. I usually draw, if I don't feel like writing on loose pages of scrap papers which I hope will constitute a decent journal.

I like collecting jars just because.  These are the ones I still have at the moment.  There must be a few more in my shed or my book cases.  I had a box full of small jars which I bought from Japan but was not able to bring back with me to Australia. It is unfortunate I wasn't able to draw them.  

This is a sketch of me and my sister Daisy when we canoed in a lake in North Carolina.   Daisy was in front of the canoe.

This is supposed to be Johann, my nephew whom I was not able to draw to exact likeness
 so I did not continue sketching the other elements.  I am inclined to believe that
 I am hopeless in portrait painting.

This is my favourite green beanie

This an image of my nieces on a canon  on display in one of the National Parks of Australia.  I could not remember exactly which park.

My Christmas Memoirs 1--God Makes me Happy

The following is one of my Christmas memoirs when I was new in Australia and penniless...

17 December 1990

Christmas would soon be here.  Everyone in the postgraduate room is talking about going some place for the Christmas holidays.  I could not say a word because I am not going anywhere.  How could I, when I am just living on my scholarship stipend?

So throughout December days, I certainly knew that I was just going to stay with my mother at home.

One morning as I opened the backdoor of our rented house in Parramatta, I saw a white pigeon who was injured that it could not fly.  I did not know what to do so I just gave it some food and water and went back inside to have breakfast myself with my mother.

When I came out of the backdoor to bring in our washing,  the bird had disappeared...Late in the afternoon, when I opened the backdoor to let in some air, I was amazed to see the bird again.  So I fed it again and gave it water to drink.

For several days, the bird was at our door in the morning, disappear during the day and back during late afternoon, during which I kept on giving it food and water.  I felt happy doing this.  I felt like I had found a friend.

Sometimes, the bird did not go away. It just alighted by our window sill watching me clean the kitchen or my mother sew clothes for me. Other times, it was nowhere to be seen.

Throughout all the Christmas holiday season that I was staying at home, the bird had given me great delight and company. I brushed with my hands its feathers and talked to it.

When Daisy asked my mother and I to stay in her house for a week before classes resumed, Art and his wife in turn stayed in our house.  I asked them to feed my visitor bird.

When my Mum and I came back from Daisy, the first thing I did was to check the bird in the backyard. I found it nowhere.  I told off my brother for not feeding it perhaps.  He said I must be dreaming because he did not find any bird in our yard.  Of course there was and my mother knew it. In fact she was also amused with it.

Every single morning and afternoon, I had been waiting and hoping the bird would come back.  I even asked God to help it come back because I was feeling sad without it.  As the afternoon died and I closed our backdoor, I felt like I could cry a lot because it hadn't come back yet.

I consoled and talked to myself.  Anyway, I had to go back to uni soon and I would be very busy working on my thesis.  My research should definitely crowd this bird out of my mind...

I thank God however for making me happy and sending this white pigeon to keep me company and make me happy all throughout my school holidays at home.

Thinking my thoughts out in the sun

I went out in the sun to think my thoughts out....My gazed turned into the creeping roses that needed pruning so I took out the kitchen ladder and started pruning it with the new 9" pruner which Brett and I got from Park Lea Market this morning.

I took my time doing this and sat on our old garden furniture to take breaks in doing this.  After finishing, I was happy with my work done.  At least I could see better the yellow blooms of my tree on the other side of the lattice.

                                                                                                                                                                                               Then  my eyes caught sight of the chrysanthemums which Merle gave our mother during the past two mother's day and which I transplanted in pots.  They have grown taller and wider but I  nearly lost them because of snail infestation. After I handpicked the tiny snails chewing on the leaves and tread them under my feet, the plants flourished and have numerous buds now.  I checked again if there were still snails because  some of their leaves were wilting.  I found a few which I removed. I also removed all the dried leaves for them to look nicer.  

I felt sad while I was doing this because it had been quite sometime that I could not even take my Mum in the extension and the backyard.  I had not dared to do this because I might not be able to manage taking her down and up the steps.  

She has always loved being out in the garden so, I had just been sitting her in the verandah since February. As she is having difficulty standing up recently, however, I have just been sitting her in her special chair near the window where she could still look at summer blooms in the garden which she enjoys and keeps her awake also.

Last Thursday late afternoon, however, she could not get up from  that chair by the window.   We struggled hour after hour but she could not stand up even a bit that made it difficult for me to lift her.  Not wanting her to remain in a distressed state, I called my siblings.  I called Daisy first.  Knowing she was not working Tuesday to Thursday, I thought it easier to ask her to come over.  I called but no answer. I called Merle but she would not able to drive over as her husband who was visiting his dad in the nursing home got the car. I could not call Cyn as  she disconnected from 3 phone due to unsatisfactory service. However,  Cyn called me later.  She was food shopping with her husband.  As the network was bad, she said she would call me as soon as she gets home. I could call Art, but he just had an operation.

I talked to Mum and persuaded her to try to stand up a bit for me not to have to carry her whole body weight. After many attempts, we were able to stand her up.  After dinner, the same problem arose.  Cyn rang and asked if they needed to drive over.

As it was getting late and starting to rain and not wanting to inconvenience both Cyn and Rene who had to leave for work the following morning, I gathered all my strength so I could lift Mum. I was able to put Mum to bed, but unfortunately hurt my back in the process.  Not a wise move, I know. I do not have regrets but am hopeful to feel better, having taken pain killer and have been resting as Mum is with Merle now and later with Daisy.

Now, I am anxious, however,  I won't be able to look after her without hurting my back more.  Art said he and H.ilda would come over during weekdays to help me.  Cyn volunteered to look after our mother throughout her three week holiday this April  to give my back a rest and save it from further injury.

As I sat out in the sun, I had been thinking however, along the lines of a long-term solution.  I know that it will be harder and harder on my own to to look after Mum who is turning 89 this October. ..

I already text Daisy this afternoon to help us get further appropriate disability aids. She should know what Mum would need as she works in an aged care facility.  I am also thinking of buying a queen bed to put in the extension for Art and Hilda to use and whoever among my siblings would come to help, so they do not have to travel back and forth so much.  I'll see how we all go from here.

As I already told my siblings, we do not like to put Mum in the nursing home now--as much as possible.  We have survived and done well since her heart failure in 2009.  She only has got a short term memory loss, if not mild dementia.  We do not want to break her heart and feel sad and alone after dinner time.  We do not like her to ask while lying down in bed hoping to get some sleep..."Why am I  here and not in any of my children's house?"

 In my house, after dinner time is the most enjoyable time for Mum--we watch TV together while eating her favourite cashew nuts. I also give her treats (ice cream, bread with Nutella which she loves, if not the healthy cereal with So Good milk) during supper (two or three times depending on her blood sugar level).  I think this is okay as I do not want to wake up and panic to find the blood sugar level drop during her sleep.

My immediate concern now is for her to see and enjoy the Chrysanthemums which are ready to burst into yellow and pink blooms this coming Mother's Day.

I won't be able to take her out in the backyard as I used to do, but with my siblings there on that day, she'll be able to go out in the garden and admire the  splash of colours--hoping this will lift her spirit up.

The transplanted Chrysanthemums my mother got from Merle during 2011 and 2012 Mother's day

One of the Chrysanthemums now with many buds

     

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Summer Gardening e Log--Batao

My father  planted bato for me in my backyard from the seeds of his own garden. This legume, with beautiful purple florets, grows in abundance in my backyard year after year. It is something which is hard to kill. 

I have grown up eating batao since I was young . I remember my mother cooked this then with coconut milk and it was delicious.  However, I just cook it as adobo (stir fried with garlic and soy sauce and a bit of vinegar). Most of the times I mix it with other vegetables in a stir fry or pinakbet (one-pot dish with eggplant, pumpkin, okra seasoned  garlic and onion and also soy sauce) and also in the vegetarian spring rolls I regularly make.

Many people have batao  in their own backyard, too.  That's why I have never seen them sold in the market in my place. It's funny one time when I was in Westfield Shoppingtown, one 84-year -old  lady was selling batao to me.  I told her I also grow them and I just give them away to relatives.  She said she used to give them away too, but she has got so many that she is selling it now. I laughed and asked how much are you selling it for.  She said $1.50 a pack. I told her good on you!'' She proudly said at least she earns some money from it.  I cautioned her, however, not to eat too much of it, particularly if she is arthritic.  She showed me her fingers and found them having signs of rheumatoid  arthritis.  I haven't read much about it, but my theory is this legume, if consumed in excess quantities can cause rheumatoid arthritis.  I had seen my father's fingers become crooked and I am inclined to believe the culprit is batao. When my mother who is not arthritic and whom I regularly give small quantities of it start having a little bulge on her one finger, I limit her intake of it.

With the above downside to it, I planted more of this legumes along my fence, as it's purple florets are beautiful to look at. Also, so I can also give them to my sisters' friends.

Summer Gardening e-Log---Amaranth

This is Amaranth.  I took the fancy of putting a bundle of it  in this green bottle as ornament which gives some kind of rest to my tired eyes. 

Amaranth is one species of spinach.  It grows wild in my garden.  I am not quite sure if I ate it when I was young, but I remember eating them when I was at the Adventist University of the Philippines.  It was sold in the market in the campus by one of the students there who encouraged and taught me how to cook it.

Now, I just eat it most of the times as stir fried vegetables with garlic and soy sauce (that's the only way I know how to cook, anyway Lol!).  Tired of eating it this way, I recently made mini and thin spring rolls out of them by microwaving the leaves, squeezing as much water from it then putting in (either mozarella, parmesan, fetta) cheese in it, then rolling them in spring rolls wrapper.  I freeze most of them because I could not eat so much of it as the cheese makes them a bit salty.

One time when my brother Art and his wife came to visit.  I asked his wife to fry some of the spring rolls for our snack.  My brother said it tasted good and ask what was in it and I said it kulitis (the vernacular for Amaranth) that which grow in my backyard and in the railway.  I saw my brother's reaction--something like wanting to spit it out.  To allay his fear,  I informed him our father ate it all his life and despite the cancer, he lived to a full and happy 83 years (laughing in loud inside me, hahaha!).  I added furthermore that my theory because our father ate so much of it, he never had cataracts but in principle sort of still have a 20/20 vision).