Let It Snow!

There are still lots of snow today and still more and more will come showcasing that real winter is here!!! It will gonna be a white Christmas, i presupposed. Yesterday morning as i woke up, i opened our glass window and voila! there were lots of snow. It actually started few days ago. With that first accumulation of snow, my boys were excited, especially Prisco and Baby Cam. This is Cameron's first snow, so i knew for sure that he is really so amazed and excited of this new change of season.



With the first gush of snow, we went to Banchory and explore the woodlands. We reached the place called Scolty Woodland Park where many acres of trees were all covered with the silvery, white snow. We had snow fight and Prisco was the champion on this! I love running around exploiting the thick snow layers and let my footprints embedded on them. I felt like conquering their own little world! It was fun! Yes, it is always cold but fun. So, wearing layers is a must!

Scott and Prily's Octoberfest!

There are two major occasions last October that we had celebrated --- my birthday and our wedding anniversary. So, i invited my close neighbors and good friends here in Scotland to join us with our simple feast and "get together". My good friends, Mario and Sally helped me with the cooking. They are good nurses but equally good cooks. So, we feast on Filipino dishes such as Pancit Canton(Noodles), Afritada, Caldereta, Chicken Curry, Vegetable Lumpia(Springrolls), Beef steak, Fried Rice, Biko, Seafoods --- succulent big prawns and escabeche (sweet and sour fish), arroz valenciana, paella, chopsuey, maja blanca and pininyahang manok(chicken with pineapple). The party started at 6 pm until almost 2 in the morning. We had lots of fun. We had videoke and lots of dancing, and of course, lots and lots of eating. We are lucky to have a big lounge area to accommodate lots of guests.

Here are some of my beautiful friends who stayed until the wee hours of the morning: Cheryl, Joy, Sally, Mario, Tenny, Shiela, Mark, Jane and her daughter Isabel. Thanks for those who joined us until almost 12 midnight: the loving couples Ruchelle and James and Auntie and Uncle Derek. To my neighbors who got kids and stayed until 11 pm, thanks so much for coming. I am so pleased they loved the Asian/Filipino cuisine.


Here is our Anniversary cake. Prisco blew it for us while Cameron is busy playing with the other kids... What a party!!!! Not only that the grown-ups had lots of fun but also the kids as well.


Before i end this entry, i want to give special thanks to my husband who made this party possible and i want to thank him for doing dishes after the party is over!!!! My everdearest, you rock!!!!

Officially 33!!!

Over a week ago, i said goodbye being 32, although i am not really bothered how old i am since the time i turned 30! But now,i am double 3 and as my husband said, "you're catching up on me and you will never catch me!." My husband is over 34, going 35. But, oh well, it is not a big deal.

The big deal is this: i am 33 and is happy, is content, has peace of mind and on the best of health. I am 33 with no debt or financial liability. I am 33 with possessions i do not imagine i can have.

I am 33 and i got a wonderful, very loving husband who spoiled me to bits, caring me so much, beholding me as his equal. I am 33 and got 2 adorable boys who blessed me in many ways unimaginable.

With these things, i am so grateful. Nothing more i will ask for. I have families that care for me. I have friends that greet my day.

On my birthday, although i keep telling them, i don't need anything, still i got something --- cards, cash, jewelries, perfumes. Thanks for the best wishes from my families and friends.

I thank God for all the blessings i received. I am very grateful for everything. I know that there are lots of uncertainties in life but i would say i am a very lucky woman who had faced lots of trials and tribulations beginning at an early age and had survived those.

I am 33 and i am taking things easy, one day at a time, one step at a time.

Again, i am so grateful and thankful. Thank you, Lord for making me the kind of person i am now.

I am now 33 and the journey is still long and although sometimes the road will be bumpy and rough, i will remain happy and confident because i know there are lots of happier, more exciting times ahead.

What We Did Last Summer?

The air is now getting colder, what a change of season! Before we know it, the hot summer is gone. Well, am back after almost two months of going around. I want to thank you for visiting my site even of my absence and i have to admit that i am missing the Blogosphere. But of course, i know, i know, there are lot of many things than blogging, but what the heck, i will blog again, anyway...

But what did we do last summer that i was really sooo preoccupied? Here is the list:

1. I travel with my kids and my in-laws. We visited the Royal Deeside of Scotland, saw Inverness which is the capital of Royal Highlands, saw one of our most favorite cities in the world --- Edinburgh, the lovely, very clean and amazing capital of Scotland, and saw Glasgow and any other villages/counties around Scotland.

2. We travel to Canada. We flew from Glasgow to Halifax and from Halifax to my husband's county --- Hant's County, the place of the highest recorded tide in the world. We travel to Fredericton as well, one of the cities of New Brunswick, Canada. In there, we attended the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my husband's Great Aunt.

3. Visit relatives. We love seeing my husband's family, most especially Grandparents.

4. We got married. Yes, again! It was not easy to get married. Lots of things to be considered and that is why i have to be away right after Prisco's Nursery school was finished. Getting married means making invitations, book for the venue, book for the photographer, choose the food, choose a band or a DJ, choose a wedding gown, a wedding shoes, Groom's tuxedo and the outfits of the wedding party, bouquet, boutonnaires, etc...etc... I will talk more about it next time.

But all in all, what an amazing, long, summer holiday! Here are two photos which i want to share for now:

Spotting Spittal of Glenshee

Established 961 AD... historical, a must-see in our lifetime, unbelievable...




Here are the Highland Lovers...and the Glenmorangie single highland Scotch whisky...

Prily on Holiday

Hello, friends and family! It is now the exciting start of summer for me. I will be off from the Blogosphere and will do lots of touring around. My inlaws will be with me as we discover many captivating castles, mysterious rivers and basins, vibrant cities and sumptuous foods. We'll have many, many other things to see and do --- a river cruise, a wildlife encounter, an encounter with other nationality, a taste of a foreign food, a glance of wonderful gardens, etc... etc...It will be a really fantastic and enticing summer for me...

Likewise, we'll be off to Canada on the 6th of July to spend more time with relatives and friends. We will be there until the 15th of August. Yup, surely it will be long summer holiday for me.

I will be missing our "planet" here. But i will get back to you once i will be back again in Scotland.

Take care,my friends! God bless us all, everyone!

Summer and Strawberries

Welcome to the strawberry fields of Cairntradlin, Scotland! This is the home of juicy, sweet strawberries you will never like to miss whilst on Aberdeen,Scotland! We are lucky to be here on the right time for picking. This is my first strawberry-picking experience, also first time for both of my kids. My in-laws and my husband had been to many strawberry-picking experiences in Canada. So, the experience was not new to them. I was very excited and so were my boys... all of us were very excited! We can eat as much as we can while picking. I ate a lot and my two boys,too.... Ah.... The taste? Strawberries!!!!





In Western countries, when it is the start of strawberry season, it is definitely the sign that it is officially summer! There is nothing that says summer like a bowl of fresh, delicious strawberries. You can see how my baby boy likes the taste of it. We all love strawberries. Anyone, who doesn't like it? Sweet and juicy, fresh strawberries are truly nature's bounty.

First-Aid Training for Children Under 5's

"Children are angels whose wings grow shorter as their legs grow longer." (Old French Proverb)

Once our angelic babies are already unstoppable, wandering, and became curious machines whose only purpose in life (apart from eating) is to make mess as possible, injuries are always a common thing and we as adults should never take for granted the basic survival skills. We know that many young children are inquisitive, curious and "risk-takers"; venturing out into a world that is immense and dangerous. Compare our children with little cars without steering wheels, bumpers or brakes!

Until children learn the basic survival skills, they remain vulnerable and at greater risk of injury in the home. Parents or carers must carry out a difficult balancing act between encouraging children to explore and develop, while ensuring they don't get hurt. Although prevention is ultimately the best, First-Aid Course helps deal with some of the common injuries that may occur within the home.

For three thursday mornings this June, i had participated in a First-aid training course for under 5 year olds at Kintore Community Center. I had been a first-aider when i was in highschool and college but first-aid is a very important thing that you need to refresh every now and then. It was a long while since i had a refresher's course. I was so happy after finishing this short course.

My first-aid learnings during my younger days were focused on older people, but this one is different, we focused on babies 5 year olds below. The other differece is the kind of environment that we focused. I asked them," what shall we do if an ant went to child's ear?" This happened to me many times when i was kid. Nobody had answered, they were like shock with the question! And then one instructor said, " I had never seen an ant in Scotland!". Oh, great!!!!

Anyway, the areas that we covered were the following:

1. Unintentional Injuries and Accidents in under 14's like Falls, Burns/Scalds, Poisoning and Garden Injuries. ( We try an avois using the term "accident" and instead refer to this as an "unintentional injury". Using "accident" can make people believe that the injury was just bad luck, a random event and ultimately unavoidable. This is not the case as many "accidents" can be predicted and avoided. We are trying to challenge the belief that "nothing can be done" and show that many "unintentional injuries" are preventable.

2. Fire Safety/Electricity Safety/Glass Safety

3. Safety Barriers and Door Safety

4. Cuts and Wounds

5. Fracture

6. Shock/ Seizure or Fit

7. Choking

8. Child Basic Life Support (AR/CPR)

Always the aims of first-aid are to preserve life, prevent condition getting worse and promote recovery before the services of a physician is obtained.

The Flame of Friendship

The Flame of Friendship.
A symbol of spirit of unity.
The burning icon of love.
Undying picture of hope.
The hot symbol of oneness.
The Flame of Friendship.

And now it’s your turn to flame yourself!
Meet new friends. Discover friendship. Make bonds.
Copy this post starting from the PICTURE ABOVE to the end
and add your blog on the list below.
Let’s start FLAMING!

———————————————————–
The People Who Accepted The Flame of Friendship
———————————————————–
Tiklaton: We are the witness
Janeth Vicy's Life Journey
My Precious
Jenn's My Sweet Haven
Vannie's Confession of a Supermodel Wannabe
Portia's Portia Speaks
Prily's Capturing the Moment

Thank you so much Jenn and Vannie for this tag. Very much appreciated.

I am passing this tag to my blogging pals Desperate Blogger, Beth, Lindsay and Shiela.

The Sounds of Music

Last weekend, i got videos of two charming performances. They might be little bit old-fashioned, but they are what we call the classic. The first is the Circa 1920 Mortier 89 Key Fairground Organ which was purchased by Bill Barrack from the Lord o' Neil of Shanes castle, Northern Ireland. It was one of the exhibited items on the fair. The other one is a Scottish lady piper. I would say there are only very few lady pipers. Listen to their melodies...

Steam Engine and Vintage Cars Exhibition - Part 2

This Vintage Fair 2008 is actually the 5th time around that is being held on the grounds of Castle Fraser. Exhibitors have travelled from all parts of the UK and some parts of Europe to share their passion for their vehicles (despite the recent increases in fuel costs!). It is so encouraging to know that there are so many enthusiasts preserving these vehicles, which some existed even on the early 1900s. I do believe that these vehicles are great pride of United Kingdom as these form part of their heritage. Well, good for them and as for me and my inlaws, we were delighted to be a part of the exhibition as cheerful audiences.

I would like to share some vintage cars photos. I want to thank Popsy Robbie for contributing me some of the photos he took. These are just samples of the hundreds of automobiles on display. Cheers and enjoy the pics!...





Here are some samples of general purpose trucks...



Over the past few years a whole family has arrived on the Steam and Vintage fair scene, not just in Britain but worldwide. They belong to the gradually enlarging family of Little Engine Enthusiasts, many of whom make the variou Steam Fairs and events their holiday destination, their weekend break, complete of course with their "Little Engines". Here are some examples...




These generally single cylinders engines have many an interesting history. Some are fuelled by paraffin, others by petrol or diesel. All have made essential contribution to the work on the farms; in workshops, also as water pumps some times out on a riverbank. Many have been service driving small mills, generating electricity and in some cases are still in use. Here are some more extracts...



I am loving these classic farm tractors...





But most of all, i fancy riding in this elegant trailer. Oh, look at how this big truck carried it just like how the horses long time ago carried the royal carriages!