Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

I could say that I’m, so far, faring well with organizing my closet.  Most probably because I’ve decluttered most of my old clothing in Makati and decided to just donate them a few months ago.  It was a great timing that a niece who’s in her OJT schooling now was in need of smart casuals and office apparels.  So most of my office slacks, blouses, and even my BPI and Globe Telecom uniforms were passed on to her.  I also gave away most of my no longer used “pa-tweetums” and teen going out outfits which I can never wear again since I’m already a Mom.  I also donated a few gowns and even my prom dress!  I am one sentimental person and letting go of things is always a hurdle for me but since I really wanted to start “fresh” and anew in our new Little Mansion, I just brought along my favorite pieces.  Take a peek at my closet now and it’s so emptily “aalog-alog”.  (Yeah, but I’m afraid, this won’t stay for long because I’ve been shopping and updating my wardrobe crazily these days..hehe!)

Colds and cough are very rampant nowadays.  Not only it can be attributed to the change of weather and pollution, but these ailments are commonly caused by the allergens creeping right at our homes.  So cleaning and sanitizing our homes would be the best way to avoid our family contracting these illnesses.

1.  Ventilate home regularly.

2.  Wash household bedding, curtains, draperies and clean carpets regularly.

3.  Change the air con filter on a regular basis.

4.  Kids’ toys must be regularly washed and the toy room’s surface thoroughly cleaned at all times.

With the water shortage that the western part of Metro Manila experienced after Maynilad’s reduction of water supply last month, we are more over called to conserve and use water wisely and responsibly.  Here are some simple ways we can respond to this call as featured in Maynilad’s Ripples Primer (March 2010):

In the Kitchen:

1.  Wash dishes or clean fruits and vegetables in a basin filled with water. The rinse water can be used for other purposes, like flushing the toilet.

2.  If you must wash dishes or food with running water, turn on the tap only when you are ready to rinse.

3.  Do not thaw frozen food under running water. Plan ahead and defrost in the refrigerator or in a
single pot of potable water instead.

In the Bathroom:

1.  Use a pail and dipper (tabo) to lessen water usage during bath time.

2.  Do not use the toilet as a trashcan for small items like napkins and cigarette butts. This will prevent unnecessary flushing, not to mention clogging.

3.  Turn off the water while soaping, shampooing, or brushing teeth.

Laundry:

1.  Wash clothes only when you have a full load of dirty laundry.

2.  Avoid wearing clothing that needs washing separately, e.g. dark colors or clothing with embellishments such as small beads and/or sequins.

3.  When washing by hand, do not allow the basin to overflow while collecting water for the laundry.

The house my cousin purchased was fifty years old, the major structures of the house is still sound the only area that they are concerned about is the dated bathroom and family room in the basement. Since they were a handy couple they decided to remodel their bathroom with new tiles, tub and fixtures. Upon the bath demolition they found that the insulation inside did not have proper vapor protection and lots of molds had grown underneath the surface of the walls. No wonder Felicity has been suffering from severe migraines ever since they moved in. Black molds especially with it’s fast microbial growth causes respiratory ailments, migraine headaches and other potential serious illnesses such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) that’s why it need to be eliminated and controlled as soon as they are discovered. They were able to purchase a mold and mildew removal kit from Citrisafe and followed the instruction sheets they offered on their website, before they were able to put up the new bathroom walls. Removing the molds is also like getting a migraine treatment for my cousin. They also got some test kits, mold solution cleaning concentrate, and other environmental bio-balancing products to keep their home mildew free and make sure new growth of molds is controlled and prevented in their household.

Now that we have finally settled into our own home, a regular cleaning up is scheduled daily while general cleaning is done thrice a month. This is to ensure that dust and molds build up is prevented. I do not want my kid nor any of us to develop any allergies so it is best to keep our Little Mansion very clean and free from dust and molds. As an old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” So to be sure of our family’s health and safety, I am thinking of investing on mold test kit. This is similar to one that I saw on Immunolytics.com which specializes on test for mold. What I like most about their products is that it is designed in a manner that anyone can use it. There is no need for somebody from their company to come to one’s house to do the testing. In fact, the steps testing for molds using their kits are very easy: plate preparation, testing and shipping preparation. Once the result is out, recommendations and referrals are made to appropriate specialist if deemed necessary. The specialists can either be environmental inspectors, remediation contractors, doctors or allergists. This is what I like about Immunolytics.com. They don’t just provide the mold test kits and find the problem. They actually help their clients find the solutions.

Just a few months ago, we used to have five-gallon bottled purified water delivery for drinking and cooking. This is because water supplied by the city’s water department is so unreliable when it comes to cleanliness and safety. Water delivery can be costly not to mention increases the problem of carbon foot print from delivery trucks. This is why husband and I finally thought of investing on a home Water filters system from Big Berkey. Their Water purifiers, which come in different capacities, filters out impurities both from treated city waters and untreated water or water with substandard quality. Their systems have built in self-sterilizing and re-cleanable purification elements that remove some chemicals and bacteria as well reduce the presence or nitrates, sediments and unhealthy minerals such as mercury or lead. The initial investment for an easy and fast to assemble Berkey Light w/o LED is just a touch over $200. Pricey but the filters have a life expectancy of 6,000 gallons for a set of two which is what’s on this system. That’s about 3 cents per gallon plus cost of water in comparison to about $1.50-$2.00 per gallon in your local grocery. Overtime, your investment not only will provide you will safe and clean drinking and cooking water but also save you hundreds of dollars.

Owning a home and raising a family, while very rewarding, can be quite expensive. If you are a typical home owner, you search for all possible discounts to help cut back on household costs. Here are a few top ways you can begin spending less and saving more.

Find Internet Deals
Most people now pay for Internet access in their homes. While this access is very convenient, the cost through some providers can be quite expensive. Therefore, to cut back on Internet access costs, be sure to shop around for broadband deals before selecting a provider. These ways, you are sure to find a good deal and will have more money left over after each month’s bill is paid.

Reduce Energy Consumption
Many home owners don’t realize how much energy their family consumes each month. This energy consumption results in high utility bills and less extra money for you to enjoy. You can easily start cutting back on utility costs by establishing energy consumption household rules. These rules could be anything from shutting off lights when leaving a room to taking shorter showers – whatever you think will help reduce the utility bill.

Use Coupons
As your family grows, you will have to buy more household products each month just to meet everyone’s needs. The cost of these items such as toilet paper and light bulbs, can add up quickly so use coupons whenever possible. Coupons are now easily accessible online so you shouldn’t have difficulties finding them to save on commonly used products. Even just $1 saved per product can begin adding up quickly.

Hopefully these tips will be useful in helping you save more each month on your household costs. The saved money can then be used to pay off other bills or to take that family vacation you have been putting off.

This is one of my favorite organizer finds when we’re doing our home stuff shopping the other month.  We had plans of buying an ordinary shoe rack then but when my eyes stumbled upon this shoe closet at Handyman, I instantly fell in love with it.  This costs about Php 900 and I believe considering the nice and sturdy quality, functionality and design, the price was just fair.  It has five layers plus six pairs of pockets on the sides.  I like that it has a zipper closure so that the shoes will not have to be exposed and an eyesore.

The uppermost layer plus the side pockets are intended for the little one’s shoes (which are a lot by the way).  While the husband and I share from the second to the bottom layers. 

Pardon if the little one is present in most pictures that I take.  He now likes the camera and he always requests to have his picture taken.  Further, he loves following me wherever I go.  Whatever I do like let’s say I’m reading apidexin reviews, expect that he’s just beside me attempting endlessly to catch my attention.

I’m about to sleep already but I decided to work on a few more online tasks since a number of them are due by tomorrow. Besides, my back can’t seem to bear the uncomfortable temperature of the bed tonight. I know it’s the humidity and all but it really feels like there’s a fire beneath our mattress hence, the febrile feeling. Now, I’m puzzled what to do since there are already 2 fans blowing our way yet it still feels hot. The only consolation that I have is that, at least tonight’s way less hotter than this afternoon.

I wonder what can we do to somehow alleviate the humidity we’re toiling especially at noon time. The sun’s glaring straight through our window (which is just made of capiz and wood) so just imagine how the room seemingly is steaming us. If only we have glass windows, perhaps we can adapt this technology that are normally used in buildings called window film los angeles. The window film can keep out as much as 83% of the sun’s heat thereby provides a cooler room as well as energy usage..consequently, lower electricity bill. The window tinting los angeles process makes it even more effective as it shuts the sun’s glare awat and keep it from penetrating through. Know of any other solutions?

The recipe books above are my recent additions to my ever growing collection of cookbooks. The recent fascination about collecting such has got to do with the Big Move since, as I’ve shared long before, that I’m not a good cook. We will be on our own soon (meaning no MIL or a house maid to cook for us) so there’s no other better way to prepare myself for this challenge than to collect and compile recipes from all resources I could get hold.

It is also in this light why I put up a food blog a few months ago so I’ll have an online venue for my kitchen chronicles – all those adventures and even the misadventures I’ll be faced. For now, I have linked in there a few Quick easy dinner recipes which will be my very first undertaking in my pursuit to become the Queen of the Kitchen. Most of these recipes include the common native dishes that my boys’ palates totally adore like Sinigang, Paksiw and Sinampalukan for the little boy and Nilaga for the big boss. (Take note how their taste buds differ). I have also already compiled a few pasta dishes (for me) like variants of spaghetti and a carbonara recipe which has become a holiday staple for us.

I’ve always been wishing to attend culinary schooling to improve and further my newbie cooking skills but unfortunately, I don’t have that much money to splurge for such formal cooking studies. I heard that a year’s tuition in ICA’s about Php 300,000. I can’t afford that much so I’ll just wait and rely on free cooking demos sponsored by big time brands like Nestle and Del Monte, if ever there will be. I have also signed up to their cooking clubs where they send out newsletters, freebies and free recipes via mail. So if in case cooking demos won’t be available, I’ll just explore in my own turf and stage my own cooking demo.