Slowly but surely

Mums. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Late afternoon, Twin I and I went to UP to buy vegetables and then went to buy flowering plants and more gardening supplies. Because we like growing stuff. I love flowers but my allergies don’t love them. What the heck, I will have my flowers and there are always antihistamines.

I don’t know what this is called. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
White rose. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Dark red daisies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

From Wednesday I’ll be having my break and will come back to work on the following Monday (25 October). I have plenty of time to repot my flowers and plant more vegetables.

Soon, I will have a 100 sqm garden, if all goes well.

You see, my mom offered to me a part of her property so I can build my tiny home. It will be 2-bedroom affair (around 60-65 sqm or 646 sq ft, which is around the same size of some condo units in Metro Manila) and it will be a duplex. I will take the upper floor. The construction can begin once the pandemic is over and I told my mom I have a friend (who went to another high school) who is now a contractor who can do this. We also talked about installing solar roof panels that will be hybrid, which means it can be tied to the grid but can run off batteries during power failures. I will also extend the water catchment system to water the garden, which will be at least 100 sqm (1076 ft). I can also have chickens for manure and eggs.

And finally, I can have a small dog again.

My dream of a small homestead is slowly within reach, if all goes well.

With the savings (because I don’t have to buy land anymore), I can finally let go of my old car and buy a new one (not a sedan!) so my daily drive to Makati, once the pandemic is over, will be easier. The hours I spend on the road from Makati to Quezon City pre-pandemic are more than the time I spend driving from Makati to my hometown on a good day. The parking in my future home will also not be a problem–there’s a huge parking lot in front of the property.

I can also rent a small studio in Makati as a crash pad or just rent an airBnB if I need to stay a night or two in Makati when there are late events or during bad weather.

My girls will now also have a chance to grow in a safer and healthier environment. They can take the public transportation without me having to worry about them. They can also ride their bikes to move around. The girls can also play a lot of sports of their choice given that it is within the university campus.

I will be able to join my high school friends in their bike rides around Laguna and Batangas during weekends. I can have a proper mountain bike or road bike since space to store that would no longer be a problem. Driving to Anilao will also be easier because I no longer have to go through South Luzon Expressway.

Because I’m saving all that rent money, I can also save up for a bigger plot of land or farm. Or a piece of land in Anilao.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Everything is so f*cked up right now

Something to help me through this crazy time. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

After a year, we’re back to square one. Octa Research says we’re having a serious surge of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and the variants we’re having (damn, we already have our own ‘Philippine variant’) are not to be messed with.

The Octa team said that if the effects of localized lockdowns and stricter quarantine measures continue, the NCR would have a reduced number of cases by the end of March.

“The result is that the more optimistic scenario could reduce the number of new COVID-19 cases by the end of March to less than 4,000, compared with 7,500 if there are no changes,” they said.

We’re basically still stuck with a virus that is getting more clever. I’m just praying none of my friends and loved ones would get sick because this unseen monster could hit from anywhere. Hospitals are already at capacity again. We never managed to really to flatten the curve or had a downtrend. All thanks to the mishandling of the pandemic by this brainless authoritarian government. It makes me sadder that some countries are getting out of this pandemic and are already “near-normal” while it seems like we’re never going to see the end of this.

My hand-sewn masks for female friends. I do sew masks in male-friendly prints for guy friends. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

All the more I am busy sewing masks for friends to help me to manage my anxiety while encouraging friends to save the environment by using reusable masks while keeping safe from the infection. If they’re only going to run to the store and not be in crowded spaces or in healthcare facilities like clinics or hospitals, my masks that are made of tightly woven cotton (either Japanese, Indian, or Turkish cotton) would suffice. As a freediver, the news reports of face masks or PPEs littering the sea makes me angry.

Speaking of diving, I would have to have our reservation at Blue Ribbon in Anilao moved to…God knows when. I don’t think this surge will ease after two weeks. Besides, the weather now is f*cking crazy. Imagine, middle of March and we are dealing with low pressure areas (that could be a beginning of a typhoon). It’s supposed to be the hot and dry season right now. On a personal level, I am not complaining because at least it’s not as hot compared to last year but from an agricultural perspective, this is not good. The planting cycle is going haywire. Crops could be destroyed.


Meanwhile, my plan to buy a small lot could be within reach sooner than I realized. I have to decide where that lot could be. My job requires me to be here in Metro Manila but I cannot imagine myself staying here for the rest of my life. I could buy in my hometown and there’s a nice lot there on a hill just within or inside the university campus that is surrounded by trees that I knew was for sale. Two Cubo units that I could join together would be sufficient for me and my girls and I could upgrade it as time goes by since I will be saving a lot of rent money. However, I cannot drive to Makati everyday if face-to-face events and meetings go back. Either I give up being a super journalist and just be content being an editor so I don’t have to be mobile all the time–but I’m not sure if I am ready to hang up my shoes and newsboy cap. I love being in the field too much.

Think, think, think.

But that little dream of having a homestead by a hill/mountain or the sea is nagging me. It’s calling me. Now that I’ve decided to remain a single mom for the rest of my days made that voice louder.

Think, think, think.

No space

Photo courtesy of Cubo.ph

I had been chatting with one of my closest friends since college and I told her I want to buy this modular tiny house from Cubo.ph and I just need to hunt for a 100 sqm lot either in our hometown or by the beach.

She asked, “Do you believe in The Secret?” “No, it’s New Age. I avoid New Age stuff,” I said.

“You know, the visualization of something you want to have or what your future will be,” she said. “It seems like you don’t have space for another person in your life.”

Damned right, I don’t, I told her.

Don’t close your door, she told me.

Well, I’m tired. The same bullshit happens. It’s better to save myself from heartache that is sure to happen. Some people are made for this; I am not. I should be kind to myself and not subject myself to that ever again, I told her. Life is too short to be unhappy and miserable. I’d rather be happy alone and just devote my life taking care of my kids until they fly away. I can have a fulfilled life alone.

I may die the next day, who knows? So I just make the most of it. Buy ourselves this tiny house tomorrow since I can pay for this in cash. Do gardening, and do crafts outside my day job, save rent money and spend it for more meaningful things like travel.

Or fulfill my childhood dream of being a NatGeo journalist or a war correspondent. Having a small house is not much of a worry when you’re away for a long time because you’re on assignments.

“Don’t you want to share it with someone?”

No. Been there, done that. Both ended in ditches. I have been taken advantage of. Twice. No need to go through that again.