Red Crown of Thorns

Crown of Thorns, Euphorbia milii, Christ plant

Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others. (--in a letter to her husband, before her last flight) ~ Amelia Earhart

Most of us look at our ideals, say how far we are from them, and get depressed. But it is heroic simply to say, "Here are my ideals," state them before the world, and then spend your life trying to live up to them. ~ Keshavan Nair

When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.

~ Confucious

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. ~ William Faulkner

The Question: What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? ~ Robert Schuller

 

 

Linking to Flower Art Friday

Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

K/ABC Wednesday

K is for Kare-Kare

Kare-kare [pronounced as kar′ēkar′ē] is a Filipino comfort food, a perennial family favorite in both local and overseas Filipino households.  It is a stew made from peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables, oxtail and tripe.  It is often eaten with bagoong (shrimp paste) spiced with chili.  A Philippine fiesta is not complete without Kare-kare, particularly in the province of Pampanga.  

Preparation:  Oxtail, with skin on and cut into 2-inch lengths, and ox tripe are boiled until tender.  When the meat is tender, the soup becomes gelatinous and to this, ground roasted peanuts (or unsweetened peanut butter) and ground roasted glutinous  rice are added to make the soup thicker.  Achuete (annatto) is also added to give color.  The basic vegetables for kare-kare include banana flower bud, eggplant, string beans and Chinese cabbage.  It is served hot with sauteed shrimp paste and eaten with steamed rice.

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Make your own/Mellow Yellow Monday & Signs

I visited this stuffed toy store recently while looking for a personalized gift for my 10-year old niece.  Here, you get to choose from  their zoo of furry friends, and customize the amount of cotton stuffing, scent, clothes and accessories.  It even comes in a box with its own birth certificate!

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday and Signs, Signs

Copper Leaf

Copper Leaf, Chrysothemis pulchella

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” ~ Albert Einstein

“I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than closed by belief.” ~ Gerry Spence

 

 

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos

Flower Art Friday

Today's Flowers

The Difficult Journey/Signs

Photos from my archive:  The fish ladder at the Ballard Locks in Seattle.  Built to allow salmon pass between fresh and salt water, and to navigate the locks.  Glass panels below the water line make it possible to watch the salmon as they swim through the ladder.  After reading The Difficult Journey and watching salmon struggle against the current, I thought of not eating salmon again.

Linking to Signs, Signs

J/ABC Wednesday

J is for Jackfruit

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), locally known as langka, nangka, is a species of tree of the mulberry family native to Southeast Asia, and is believed to have originated in the southwestern rain forests of India.  Fresh jackfruit can be found in the markets here---it can be eaten unripe (young) when cooked, or ripe uncooked.  The seeds maybe boiled or baked like beans.  It is usually cooked with coconut milk (ginataang langka) and pork, dried fish or shrimps.  It is also available canned or bottled in sugar syrup, or frozen.

The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous, and is a source of dietary fiber. The flavor is similar to a tart banana. Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet with subtle flavoring. It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards, cakes, halo-halo (crushed ice with a variety of fruits, milk and sugar); it also adds flavor, color and aroma to Lambanog, a local coconut arrack. Ripe jackfruit arils are sometimes seeded, fried or freeze-dried and sold as jackfruit chips.

It is one of my favorite fruits (ripe) for dessert.

The jackfruit tree is well suited to tropical lowlands, and its fruit is the largest tree-borne fruit, reaching as much as 80 pounds (36 kg) in weight and up to 36 inches (90 cm) long and 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter.  The wood of the tree is widely used in furniture, doors and windows, and traditionally used for musical instruments, specially as a hull of a kutiyapi, a two-stringed, fretted boat-lute.  Wiki

a jackfruit tree at my aunt's yard

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Wildflower/Mellow Yellow Monday

"And do not change. Do not divert your love from visible things. But go on loving what is good, simple and ordinary; animals and things and flowers, and keep the balance true.” ~ Rilke

 Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Yellow Caballero

Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Dwarf Poinciana, Caballero

 I have posted the red/orange variety here and the pink here.  I found yellow ones, too.  

"Time doesn't always heal:  it just breathes and swallows memories like the seasons change---sending showers; beating flowers into the mud.  And nothing is forever in this place.  Nothing but the way my heart fits in your hands; the held breath of hope."

 

Linking to:  Flower Art Friday

Floral Friday Fotos

Today's Flowers

Get Wet/Signs

Liquid is a pool lounge bar of the Hotel H2O at the Manila Ocean Park.

 

A pool lounge that brings Vegas' wet and wild clubbing experience and Boracay's finest beach parties to Manila. It is sexy, fun and exquisite like no other.

LIQUID Pool Lounge brings a sizzling yet refreshing clubbing experience that fuses an urban club scene and beach getaway. You can dance on the regular dance floor or dive into our 3-feet pool and dance like you never did before.

Linking to Lesley's Signs, Signs

I/ABC Wednesday

I is for Innocence

When we are children we seldom think of the future.  This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can.  The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.  ~ Patrick Rothfuss

Linking to ABC Wednesday

Mango/Mellow Yellow Monday

A fabulous variety of mango I got from ECJ Farms.  This mango is about the size of a baby's head, and weighs more than a kilo.  And it tastes absolutely great--it doesn't have the "antibiotic" flavor and fiber of an apple mango!  ECJ Farms grow this variety in Dipolog.  I kept coming back for more until ECJ Farms' store in Tiendesitas ran out of stock.:p

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Moth Orchid

For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it.

For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it.

For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.

~Ivan Panin

 

 

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos, Flower Art Friday and Today's Flowers

Signs @ Camayan

Signs at Camayan Beach Resort in Subic Bay.  If you get tired of the beach, there are many activities to choose from.  Spent an afternoon here with friends last summer.

This is not a paid ad.

Linking to Signs, Signs