Archive | Growing up RSS feed for this section

A Behemoth Munch Pot, Part 2

23 Apr

Yesterday was a typical morning like any other as we got ready for work except that we had a caterpillar to check on. We looked for our behemoth Munch Pot, straining our necks upwards to look at the branches of the tree in front of the house. And we couldn’t find it! It was there on Sunday night. No… nooooo……

 

Just when we thought something so monstrous in size could thrive, being so hidden under the leaves, tragedy struck? But hubby said, there was poop evidence on the lawn, so perhaps it’s still around but just not at its last place we saw the day before.

Last night when we got home and checked again, nothing. Even with the flash on the iPhone XR to take a picture, there was no evidence, compared to the picture taken the night before. Oh dear…

img_1517-1

The glow on Sunday was a giveaway on its position, but no glow on Monday

Perhaps it has reached the pupal stage and we should be looking out for a cocoon instead of the four inch fat caterpillar.

This morning, lo and behold, we spotted a cocoon! Thank goodness. I had to climb up the ladder again to take the picture. So now it looks like our behemoth Munch Pot has safely reached its next stage, and it will stay like this for a month.

img_1515

Tags: , , , ,

Not Being Disciplined

5 Apr

This week I was not being very disciplined as far as the 16/8 diet is concerned. I didn’t keep to the 16/8 window, rather it was more like 15/9. And I snacked throughout the week on things that I don’t normally eat. Bad…

Subconsciously, I wanted to see if what I ate had any bearings on the outcome, whether it would affect the weight within a few days. I hope not to repeat this again though.

So what exactly did I indulged in? Sweet preserved Chinese plums. Sugar right there! And cookies and candies. More sugar! I even ate chocolate and suffered the consequences, remember my Endometriosis?

Prior to the start of the week, on Sunday night, I drank three glasses of Kronenbourg beer to replenish my soul after that morning’s energy-sapping golf game and this immediately spiked up the weight. And although we had gym on Monday, I didn’t push myself enough to at least burn off the beer calories.

Thankfully all the week’s snacking did not add on anymore weight and only a teeny weeny reduction when I stood on the bathroom scale this morning for the weekly weigh-in. So the increment at the start of the week was due to Sunday’s beer. I think by not keeping to the 16/8 regime played a role in this result. This is not the way to go if I want to reach my target weight goal; I’d better be more disciplined.

But April being the family birthday month – Mom’s, the twins’ and mine, it’s impossible to stay disciplined when there are birthday dinners lined up to celebrate. In fact, I have a big birthday dinner celebration tonight with my golf friends and with the family come Sunday night. Hmm… I’d have to manage and stay more focused.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

March Madness All Over Again, Part 2

4 Apr

The 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament is drawing to a close soon. The better seeded teams lived up to their billing in the Sweet 16 round of this year’s Women’s Division 1 basketball. Unfortunately, M1’s university did not make it pass this round. Their best performance was in 2016 when they made it to the Final Four.

This year, my prediction picks for the Women’s Division 1 were spot on for three out of the four that qualified for the Final Four. May the best team wins!

And now that M1 has completed her undergrad studies, I am indecisive if I will continue to follow basketball, her alma mater or even the NCAA thereafter. Also because M2 being in Ireland, basketball is not a big thing at her college, the interest in the game may diminish once the NCAA concludes. We shall see. After all, there are still some good teams out there to follow.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

5.1, 6, 7, 8!

28 Mar
img_1091

A day in the life of Munch Pot 5.1

It’s a bittersweet moment as far as the caterpillars are concerned. While Munch Pot 3.1 is clearly no more after so many days with no evidence of metamorphosis or a shrivelled body or pod in sight, Munch Pot 5.1 continues to grow. And to our delight, we found more babies, 6, 7 and 8 to be exact on the Calamansi Lime tree! Hahaha… the poor tree.

img_1092-1

Top: Munch Pots 7 and 8 saying “Hello”! Bottom: Munch Pot 6

I guess there’s a never ending supply of caterpillars on this particular tree to keep me enthralled.

Tags: , ,

Rescuing My Caterpillar

25 Mar

Of late, caterpillars have become very fascinating to me. It’s so fun checking on them every morning and evening, and taking pictures of them. Honestly, I like it when all the leaves on the Calamansi Lime tree gets gnawed on and even hubby doesn’t mind this.

Munch Pot 5.0 before it evolved

Munch Pot 3.1 doing a vertical stand

3.1 up close

The munch pots are growing and happy. Munch Pot 3.1 have grown beautifully and even 5.0 have evolved. So now, it’s 5.1.

What a cutie 3.1

5.1 on Friday night, having evolved

But on Saturday morning, a slight mishap occurred and we couldn’t find 3.1. Oh no, it’s gone! Lunch for the birds? I couldn’t accept this so we looked and looked. And lo and behold, it actually fell off the tree onto the ground. Oh dear…

Poor 3.1. I wonder if it’s traumatized?

5.1 looking good

Looking disheveled but hopefully not traumatized, hubby picked it up with a bamboo stick to place it back on the branches. I thought our little deed was whimsical, rescuing a caterpillar that some people consider a pest. I hope 3.1 will be okay and evolve to its next stage. It was still okay on Saturday afternoon when I checked on it again.

Unfortunately after that, the last two days as we stood in front of the Calamansi Lime tree to scrutinize every branch looking for it, we cannot find Munch Pot 3.1. Sniffle…

Tags: , ,

Munch Pots, Part 2

21 Mar
img_0994

Munch Pot 3.0 in the morning

Munch Pot 3.0 has evolved and is now 3.1! What a beauty I must say. Within a day, in the morning, it was still its old self; then that evening when I got home and checked on it, it has morphed into a glorious green caterpillar. And to my delight, we found another caterpillar on the same tree, 5.0.

img_0995

Munch Pot 3.1 in the evening

img_0996

Eat ’em and poop

But sadly, I cannot locate Munch Pot 4.0 on the other tree.

Now 3.1 and 5.0 have grown very fast, being munch pots that they are. And when they eat so much, they poop just as much too, as evidenced by this morning’s photographs.

img_1001

Munch Pot 5.0

Tags: , ,

Munch Pots

18 Mar

This caterpillar business is so hard to keep track! Last Friday, Munch Pot 2.1 could not be found at its usual spot on the branch of the Calamansi Lime tree. I suspect the final same fate as Munch Pot 1.0 has befallen 2.1. We couldn’t find any cocoon on the tree.

Either a bird came down and had it for lunch or it could have fallen off the branch because the pelting rain was too strong for it to hold on tight. I am disappointed. Munch Pot 2.1 is no more. Sigh…

But while we were searching for it, we found a new baby. Munch Pot 3.0 I guess. The tiny hairy fella measured at only 1cm and have grown since then. It’s funny, people take care of plants and here I am ‘taking’ care of caterpillars. On top of 3.0, I found another one, 4.0 at another Calamansi tree. This one’s a wee bit bigger.

img_0883

Meet Munch Pot 3.0

img_0930

Munch Pot 3.0 have grown since the first sighting

 

img_0896

Munch Pot 4.0

img_0909

Up close and personal with Munch Pot 4.0 the munching machine

Let’s hope both 3.0 and 4.0 live longer than the others.

Tags: , , ,

Munch Pot 2.1

14 Mar

For two days, I didn’t check on Munch Pot because we had to leave the house early and got home late due to work. Then yesterday morning when I had a little time before leaving for the office, I went looking for the dark hairy creature.

But I couldn’t find it! Oh no… has the same fate struck it like Munch Pot 1.0?

I looked again and to my delight, I saw a green caterpillar instead. Munch Pot has evolved! Awesome!!!

img_0860

Munch Pot 2.1

img_0873

The Calamansi Lime tree where Munch Pot 2.1 resides

Quickly I went inside for my ruler and took its measurement. A slight increment from my last sighting of it. This is getting exciting. Munch Pot is now at its next stage, hence 2.1. Heheheh…

Tags: , ,

Killer Whales

12 Feb

Actually, carving on Meranti wood is not good for me. While it may be satisfying to channel my energy into it and then feel the joy whenever a lovely piece is completed, the choice of the wood is the culprit that adds to my Wrist Tendonitis woes.

I was carving a lot of Meranti whales in December and they are much bigger pieces than the Gnomes and Citizens, which unfortunately have not increase in their population count. And being bigger pieces, it magnified the Wrist Tendonitis on the left hand because I have been gripping the wood block too tightly, looking back at the situation now. Sigh.

Although I have a vise clamp albeit a mini one, it cannot clamp the block for me to work on. And I have not been using my workbench enough to ease the situation. It is not the repetitive motion that’s causing the flare up because the repetition is on the right hand, the carving hand, and not the left hand – the non-working but gripping hand.

If I am not carving daily, the situation can be contained because with ample rest, nothing gets aggravated and it’s fine. The therapy sessions, which concluded, helped but I must not overdo things that can cause a recurrence. That something obviously being carving, of course. And I guess I overdid it in December. Oops.

Then in January as we were busy preparing for M2 to leave, carving took a backseat. But after M2 left, I was back to carving whales full swing AND playing golf before Chinese New Year, double whammy you could say. I felt a teeny weeny set back. Uh oh.

img_0211

The whales, cute as they may be, are really killer whales. And I’d better take care especially if I want to play more golf this year. Perhaps I should go back to balsa instead of Meranti or get a bigger vise clamp if setting up the workbench is too much? Something to seriously consider.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Can We Order?

25 Jan

Eating out is now a problem with M2 away in college. We are small eaters all these years. Even when M1 was around, we always ordered three portions for the four of us to share and you could say there were choices.

When M1 left for her studies, we resolved this predicament by ordering only two for three, less choices but always a mix and match for sharing and it worked out well the last four years.

But now, with M2 away, we certainly cannot use this equation anymore when eating out. Given that there are some things I don’t eat these days to manage my Endometriosis, the options don’t look too appealing – it will either be no choice or too much. Sigh.

It will take some tweaking to arrive at a comfortable balance that both hubby and I will be satisfied when we do eat out. We shall see.

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →