Condo Living

Time to revive this blog , make it more useful and informational. Having lived my life since high school in dormitories, then all through my work life in studio types and three years now in a one bedroom condo unit , I have learned ways and means to make everyday life in such small places as comfortable, convenient and fun as possible, within the means at hand and with two cats at that.

Outside My Home

October 09, 2008 Smitten as I am with European sceneries and culture, I'm posting here pictures I took one rainy Saturday (Oct. 04, 2008) of the area outside my fifth floor window which with a bit of imagination I can feel that I am in some part of Europe, a place I have to go to before I exit from this earthly life ...

Stick-Plant Flowering

To mark the annual flowering, beginning September, of my 30-year-old stick plant ( I never quite learned the real name or the scientific name of this hardy and weird looking plant), I'm posting these pictures ... The blooms exudes a rather strong perfumy scent, like dama-de-noche ... I've noticed that it exudes the scent only at night. This plant was given to me by a budding artist friend from UP way back in the early seventies, before she migrated to Canada . The only reason I can think of why this plant survived life with me for the past 30 years is that it's extremely low-maintenance ... like me, I suppose ...

A Fine House --- with Two Cats in the Room

Introducing the two cats, literally and figuratively , in my life .... reminds me of a song which goes like ' Our house is a very fine house ..with two cats in the yard ..' Have to modify that a bit ...'with two cats in the room' ...Shhhh - we're not supposed to have pet cats, as condo living rules go .... I'll tell the story of Badong and Kiko (Salvatorre and Francesco in Italian, Dodon and Coucou, in French.. didn't I tell you, we're trying to live here a copy-cat Mediterranean lifestyle), when I have the time to write longer --- but for now , some pictures ...

Some Other Sunrises

October 02, 2008

A take from David Benoit's 'Some Other Sunset' --- one of my favorite tunes ... This page will start the series of pictures of the sunrise as seen from
my bedroom window from a 5th floor room , somewhere in Q.C.

Fascinating the uniqueness of every day, starting with how the sunrise is painted in the morning sky ... Magnificent is God's morning art , the play of colours and light which I'm pretty sure is never replicated ...

Should remind me that my daily routine , seemingly boring everyday life is not really ever the same... I only have to be aware of the hidden details that might even be surprising .... Really I don't have the right to be bored ...

October 03, 2008 --- I'm thinking I'm going to post a series of pics of the sunrise from my bedroom window the whole month of October 2008...
Below are the October 03, 2008 sunrise :





September Morns --- ( Thanks to a Neil Diamond song title...)

Going Mediterranean - La Dolce Vita or What Passes for It

September 30, 2008

To foster that feeling of abundance , even when living in one-room affairs which I have done all through my working life , I try to always have in stock at least a bottle of affordable Italian, French or Spanish (haven't tried Portuguese yet) red or white wine (mostly red) , a small bottle of olive oil and a small bottle of honey ..so that even when cash is low , the presence of these bounties of nature remind of the bountiful life, of the possibility of it in my own life ... Mediterranean at that ... it was only during my early fifties that I started to develop this interest and taste for things Mediterranean ... the the sparkling honey-colored sunlight, the medieval villages which speaks of continuity of culture and tradition well into the present time, the relatedness to nature and to the soil, the vineyards,lavender fields, perfume,wine,herbs and spices, family kitchens with age old recipes, meals as family bonding time, culinary artistry ... such warm and down-to-earth ideas and images .... fine and elegant earthy food for everyday meals and relaxation... I've even started to make my own pesto .... and thanks to a diet to reduce/balance my cholesterol levels,
I'm forced to cook my own food and I am able to choose and use Mediterranean ingredients as olive and grapeseed oil , vegetables such as fennel, asparagus, spinach, celery ... And now, I'm reading a lot about wines ... I've also started collecting china and kitchen things with Mediterranean motifs and designs... as my home pictures above show ... including my cats in a Mediterranean inspired setting ....

Hearth,Heart ,Earth and Home

September 28, 2008
I dedicate this blog to God,to the Lord Jesus Christ, as my my way of way saying 'Thank You' for the life ....

Hmmm, another new beginning .... blogging this time specifically for my domestic/homemaking interests and my hobbies ...

Let me begin with these pictures , taken at sunrise, of the group of buildings which holds the 30 sq. meters (air)space up on the fifth floor, which I call home ...






And a glimpse of the culture that we're trying to instill in this little world ...