Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

There are surely lots of advantages of living in a compound with a setup just like ours.  First, to give you an overview, here’s how and where Little Mansion is situated in a 6-unit compound.This is our very dear Little Mansion (LM), a single-detached unit at the farthest end of the compound from the gate.  Another single-detached unit (the picture on the right) faces ours and it’s a mirrored replica of LM.

This picture on the other hand is the view of the common gate from the farthest end where LM is.  Two duplex units stand face to face.

We love how our neighbors (from both units of the left duplex on the pic) have a 2 year old daughter who has become Asher’s constant playmate in the afternoon.  They’re thoughtful and caring..the type of neighbors you know they’ll look after and guard your house if you’re away.  During the water crisis last July, under their own initiative, they filled our basins in the laundry area when we were out and the water ration came.  We also appreciate how they share cooked merienda (spaghetti, hotcake, etc) to Asher every now and then.  They also gladly lent us their laundry drying rod when Yayie still did not have an ample space to hang our laundered clothes on for drying on our first month.  They have this genuine big smiles every time we see them.  Really, they’re the type of neighbors you’d yearn to have.

However, there are also drawbacks with this type of communal living in a compound.  There are no clear boundaries, no gates within the real premises that are rightfully ours, and the long driveway is a common area.  So that means, if a neighbor doesn’t care of his front and side yards, meaning they care less if their lawn appears unattractive, cluttered and trashy, you somehow get affected because their lawn is your lawn, too.  That, even though an emergency medical assistance can be easily sought, you wouldn’t want to risk your toddler son’s safety because of the trashed steels and woods that they just trashed in the common ground where he freely plays in the afternoon.  That, since the units are not distant, one’s noise is heartily heard by all the compound dwellers. That, you just keep mum because either you don’t know how would they react if you gently call their attention or simply, you don’t know how to make the right approach that would not get them offended. 

You win some, you lose some.  It’s just a matter of acceptance.  We love everything that has to do with the Little Mansion because it’s our sanctuary.  Whatever drawbacks there may be, we’re just happy that we have our own dwelling.  After all, we’re living WITHIN LM’s walls and not naman outside.  So happy, happy pa rin.

I’ve recently learned from a home decorating blog that Chinese buy gold coins and give these as good luck gifts to friends that can also be displayed in a home.  These gold coins can be artistically arranged within a golden frame and can be shown seemingly as an exhibit in the hallway or even in the living room.  It is said that coins signify riches while the element gold itself means good luck.  So gifting a gold coins collection means that one wish lots of wealth coming into one’s home.  So to friends visiting our little mansion very soon, do not forget to take a look at US Gold Bureau’s site where you can possibly order good gold coin collections as a good luck gift to us.

We don’t have one nor sees the need to have one in the near future.  It is because we don’t keep bundles of cash at home or we have that much precious jewelries in possession to keep inside a vault.  We also do not have a gold bullion that must be secretly kept well.  We have plans though to engage in precious metal investment in the future.  We were surprised when the foreman advised us before that they allotted a space for a vault in our closet.  Well, we just let it be.  Who know we have to have a vault come by the time our investment plans pursue.  I have yet once again read from the US Gold Bureau that the gold market is flourishing as it’s expected to become.

For two consecutive weekends, the Manila Seedling Bank Foundation Inc along EDSA and Quezon Avenue was a favorite destination earlier this month.  Our Little Mansion was designed with two plant boxes on the second floor exteriors so we’ve long been planning to drop by a seedling bank, a plant store (or whatever you call it) to purchase ornamental plants that can further add color and life to our humble abode.  We always pass by the Manila Seedling Bank whenever we visit the in laws in Frisco but we were clueless how huge the selling area is and how plenty the sellers and sold plants are until we got in there the first time.  I was actually overwhelmed because there were surely lots of ornamental and decorative plants and flowers in pots, orchids, imported and extraordinary flowers, fruit trees, other garden plants and even garden tools like rakes, shovels, gloves and a lot more.  My eyes literally feasted that we had a hard time deciding which to choose.  After careful contemplation and comparison of our top choices, we went home with 10 potted yellow bromeliads in tow plus two potted flowering plants that shall be put on the front house area.  We had to go back the weekend after because we realized that the plants we bought were not enough to fill all the areas that we intended to put plants on.  So we bought 10 more potted local species of Red Santan.  The Santan will be for the plant boxes while the bromeliads will adorn the driveway and the house’s front area.  I’ll try to share a picture of the plants once they are placed on the 2nd floor plant boxes.

Since all the units in our compound which consists of 2 Duplex and 2 Single Detached units have all now been completed, everything’s looking great now.  Save for the minor installations, like in our case, we’ve asked the foreman to make us an extra kitchen cabinet which will function as a counter top, decorative shelves in the living room and a few others, the compound is so lovely to look now from the central gate.  The owner of one of the duplex units that was the first one to be made years ago has also decided to ask for repainting jobs since the paint of their exteriors has now faded.  They also had replacement windows Northern Virginia as the window frames, railings and steels have gotten all rusty now.  I believe, they also asked to do some roofing improvement works.  They’ve complained that they’re experiencing bad leaks in some areas of the house and the condition was aggravated by the frequent heavy rains in our neck of the woods these days.  We’re absolutely experiencing the rainy season now but the weather bureau warns to expect worse and heavier rains in the next coming months.  So they’re indeed doing the right thing.  All home improvements should be made now to prevent further damages.

I’m still having second thoughts whether we’d install carpets in the living room and in the master’s bedroom.  As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up in an almost fully carpeted home in my parent’s house in Makati.  And I think, that’s where I got my weird preferred feet sole sensation.  Whenever I’m seated in a stationary position as when I’m watching the TV or when I’m in front of my laptop and working for a long period, my soles are deeply elated when they are relaxed on a carpeted flooring.  I don’t know but the strokes of my feet on the rough sensation of the carpet gives me a different high.

I would have asked the husband a long time ago to install even just a small dimensioned carpet in the abovementioned areas of Little Mansion, since, they also make perfect accents to the home interiors.  However, I’m stopped by Asher’s asthma.  His doctor warned me before to as much as possible keep him away from allergens that could trigger his respiratory allergies and asthma.  Carpet is known to trap and harbor dust mites and other harmful particles and air impurities.  Now if only we have an affordable, local counterpart of Absolute Carpet Care Inc, a carpet care authority in Virginia that does impressive carpet cleaning Falls Church VA, then I wouldn’t have a problem.  Setting regular cleaning appointments would them could really keep the carpet from harboring such allergens, maintains the carpet thoroughly clean and presentable.  I wonder if the Electrolux Men still exist up to date.

I wonder if there’s a local store I can buy this frame from.

I just stumbled upon it randomly on google image search.  We are on the lookout for such as we plan to accentuate the hallway upstairs with framed pictures of our family but the picture frames should just be bordered with black.  If we can not scour similar to this, we’ll just perhaps buy individual black frames in different sizes then just plot it artistically.

Here’s one of the two paintings that was gifted to us as a housewarming present for Little Mansion.  It was initially intended to be put up on the living room wall but we’re thinking of putting it in the master’s bedroom instead as we find the other painting more appropriate for the living room.  I don’t have a picture of the second one right now but I’ll upload and share it once we get the framed finished product this weekend.

Most of Little Mansion’s walls are still empty.  Meaning, no frames, accentuations or any embellishments yet that will further adorn the interior.  We’re lucky that an aunt gave us two beautiful paintings as housewarming gifts and they are intended to be put up in the living room’s wall and another for the master’s bedroom.  We haven’t put them up though because they’re still with the “framing” supplier or however you call him.  Apart from this, the husband and I are still looking for inspirations on the web.  I saw a while ago on the web a framed collection of gold coins and I think, it looks great.  We’re not really big fans of rare coins but a vast collection of old coins such as this exudes an extraordinary appeal and charm.  So probably, the US Gold Bureau website will be my destination later as I’ll look for possible affordable coin prospects.  United States Gold Bureau is among America’s best dealers of gold, silver and other precious metals in coins, ingot or bullion forms.

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.