It looks like I am wrong about the Chili Reaper that comes to our garden. Two days ago, the Yellow-vented Bulbul came a-calling, and it wasn’t the chili plant that it went to but the papaya fruit that we left out for the squirrels!
The Bulbul also likes papaya besides chili, it seems. We never knew. I guess we have to rethink its given name now. It’s wrong to call it the Chili Reaper if it eats papaya fruits besides chili, right?
The lure of collecting another badge in my Fitness app was too strong. I decided to go for the Yoga Day Challenge badge on the International Day of Yoga last week. After all, it only takes twenty minutes.
But where do I begin? YouTube, of course! Nowadays, when one wants to learn something, YouTube is the go-to to find out. I found a 20-minute session video with mixed stretching and soul-searching breathing moments. Hmm, I can handle it.
And so I attempted the Yoga challenge. Oh man, it looked easy on the video, but it was not! My body was so stiff that I couldn’t twist my limbs as shown. Even the soul-searching seated moments were not easy because my mind kept wandering!
Nonetheless, I managed and was sweating after 22 minutes at it. Never underestimate the power of yoga! It may look or sound easy, but it was not. But I’m glad I did it and have earned the Yoga Day Challenge badge for my effort.
We used to have three papaya trees in our garden, but not anymore. Only one tree is still fruiting, as the other two have passed their prime. The older of the two was chopped down in its height but never grew again. Its base wilted with time, and we left it unattended until we figured out what to do with its precious space in the garden.
The other tree had problems as far as the fruits were concerned. Hubby chopped it down to about two feet to allow it to grow again. Hopefully, the tree will recover and give us healthy fruits again.
The lone tree so far is still fruiting well, and we have a couple of challenges with it. The first is its height – it has grown so tall that plucking the fruits from the top of the nine-foot-tall ladder is quite a task. The other challenge is keeping the garden squirrels away from eating the fruits on the tree!
Papaya fruits have become such an integral part of our diet these days. So much so, with the two trees gone, hubby decided to cultivate more papaya trees. Call it our papaya nursery, if you may.
He recycled milk containers to house the little trees. And so far, the four trees are doing okay. When they are ready, to the garden they will go! Or he will give a few away. Any takers?
Today is the International Day of Yoga. The Fitness app on my AppleWatch alerted me yesterday and challenged me to do some yoga today to earn the badge.
Now I’m a badge collector on the Fitness app. I’ve earned some cool limited edition ones like the Unity Challenge and Ring in the New Year Challenge (closing the Move ring seven days in a row), Heart Month Challenge (doing a 30-minute Exercise), National Parks Challenge (working out or walking at least a mile), plus a couple more.
But yoga? Hmm, I don’t know because I’m not a yoga person. Then again, sitting down breathing, and doing almost nothing or some slo-mo movements can’t be that difficult. Can it? Maybe I’ll give it a shot. Twenty minutes is all it takes to earn this Yoga Day Challenge badge.
Sometimes we need something different to do to rejuvenate. Instead of wallowing and being out of sorts, I changed my routine to keep busy.
And I find Pinterest is one of the best apps for ideas. The various boards I have to gather visual ideas are very inspiring.
I needle felted something different over the weekend. Staying away from the true and tested Miffy bunny, tortoises, and characters that I am familiar with, I went with felting a new character. And I went the extra mile to add the necessary parts to make practical keychains out of them!
My two Yetis are simply adorable! It’s a gem of a find from Pinterest. I guess I will be felting a few more of this cutie pie character.
Sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Unfortunately, this does not apply to me today. I am a little out of sorts and have no inspiration to write anything.
I hope next week, I’ll be back in full swing to share about my hobbies and all. Have a good weekend, people!
Over the last two years, with the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging and upending the world, it was not just traveling and routines that got disrupted – sports and golf tournaments everywhere were canceled too.
At the onset, golf was not allowed in my country when the pandemic broke out. But soon, certain outdoor activities were permitted, and golf was on the list. Our golf club had to comply with the strict SOPs outlined by the government for golf.
On top of social distancing, players were not allowed to share the golf buggy. It was a single-player, single-buggy situation. And gatherings for meals before or after games were not permitted at the club, what more holding tournaments which draw a crowd, breaking social distancing rules. All these experiences and situations are now distant memories.
Finally, after a two-year hiatus of none competitive golf, golf tournaments are allowed again. And my golf club’s Annual Golf Championship resumed. Starting over the weekend for three categories – super senior, ladies, and juniors, it will continue for the next two weekends for the seniors and men categories. The thrill of high-level competition again!
I played over the weekend for my category over two days. What a battle it was. The adrenalin and pressure of playing high-level competition are totally unlike social golf. Every shot and mistake counts for your confidence and stress to do well. So how did I fare?
It will always be a what-if, could-have, and should-have situation.
Day One: what if I didn’t put the ball into the water on the approach shot on the first hole? What if I didn’t three-putt throughout the game for seven holes?
Day Two: how could I have dunked two balls into the water and returned with an incredulous ten for the Par 4, Hole 16? And I shouldn’t have four-putted on the relatively easy Hole 15, Par 3. But then, to begin with, I shouldn’t have teed into the water! The list could go on.
Disasters were aplenty, but there were some feel-good moments too. In the end, the bad moments far outweighed the good ones. All these are part and parcel of competitive golf. A little Lady Luck would have been better, and some calm nerves during the two days would have been helpful. Oh well.
I’m not complaining about the outcome of my participation this year; I merely need to build my mental strength to approach competitive golf better. And I need to trust my clubs and their distances more. Being unsure creates doubts, and this leads to disasters.
After all the golfing drama, the after-game camaraderie, drinks, laughter, and friendship with the other lady golfers mattered more than my performance at the Annual Championship. The occasion is now a cherished memory that was fun and challenging, and I certainly look forward to participating again next year.
I had a notification from WordPress this morning – congratulating me on the ninth anniversary of my blog site! Wow. For nine years, I have had this going. Wow again. I am speechless that I have kept it going for so long.
But this would not have happened if it wasn’t for all you readers supporting me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Keep reading, and of course, I will keep writing.
I started DIY project number 25 two days ago. Woohoo! I forced myself to stay away from my games on my iPad Mini to work on it. It was a good decision as there was less time on the iPad, and I could focus better on crafting.
DIY project number 25 is another small set. After working on those few minuscule sets, I find them more therapeutic for my mind and patience. And since I recently purchased three new mini kits in the series of six, I decided to work on the Sweet Jam Shop first. And it looks like all the larger sets that I have will have to take a backseat for a while.
The do-nothing day yesterday turned out to be do-everything-you-can! How wrong I was envisioning the day ahead.
As much as I wanted to lay in bed, I couldn’t because the morning was not those rainy-weather situations that beckons you to stay in bed. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and the neighbor’s noisy dog was barking endlessly.
So we did everything we could in the morning, from doing the laundry and hanging the clothes out under the sun, washing the cars, and cleaning the garden mess – it turned out to be a busy day instead. Hubby even baked a loaf of bread!
The public holiday turned out to be an extension of the weekend, and whatever chores we couldn’t get to on Saturday and Sunday, we completed them on Monday.
When it’s a do-nothing day, you should abide by it and do nothing. If not, you’ll do things and tire yourself out by lunchtime. By then, it was a do-nothing day for real. Hahaha.
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