Mama Miah!

Hello everyone! My Mammillaria Beneckei a.k.a. Fish Hook Cactus has already bloomed and the color of it's flower is... Yellow! It's my first time to see it's beauty since I last blogged about it in year 2017. I've been waiting for my fishhook cactus to bloom and it took 2 years for it to mature and finally had its flower. Yay! :)

I can't help to stare at it for so long because it's beauty is captivating. It's flower didn't last long by the way, it only bloomed for one day... But I am thankful, I have seen its beauty, hopefully its offspring will also bloom soon. :)

By the way, here's my previous blog post about Mammillaria Beneckei a.k.a. Fish Hook Cactus.

Clitoria Ternatea has a lot of names, it also called Blue Ternatea, Butterfly Pea, Asian Pigeon Wings, Blue Bell Vine, Blue Pea, Cordofan Pea, and Darwin pea. It is an edible herbal plant that has a lot of benefits to our body. I've searched online for the benefits of Butterfly Pea and I was really amazed how this perennial plant has numerous benefits like memory enhancer, brain booster, improves eyesight, diuretic, analgesic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, anti-diabetic, anti-asthmatic, anti-anxiety and depression. I think there are a lot more benefits and medicinal use if you do intensive research about the Clitoria Ternatea.

After knowing its benefits, I wanted to have my own Butterfly Pea plant. I am just lucky because my friend gave me some seeds last summer and I planted them in a big container. We made a DIY trellis made up of small water pipes and wires so the vines have more places to climb.

Growing Clitoria Ternatea plant is just easy, it doesn't require so much, just good soil and you're good to go. I planted them through seeds in our compost soil and in more than a week or two, there are already new sprouts. After almost two months, it started to have flowers already. Once it has started growing flowers, it will grow more every day. :)

I used organic fertilizer on my plants like:

• Crushed eggshells - rich in calcium which helps plants grow healthy and strong. It also reduces the acidity of the soil.
• Rabbit manure  - a great fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients that plants need for healthy growth. 
• Banana peels - rich in potassium, phosphorus, and calcium. It also keeps the aphids away.
• Rice water - (yung pinaghugasan ng bigas bago iluto). I actually don't know what are the actual benefits of using rice water on plants but based on experience, my plants and vegetables grow well and produce more fruits and as for the Clitoria ternatea, it produces lots of flowers even some of my seedlings have started producing flowers in a month.

I've searched for the benefits of minerals our plants can get on rice water and I've found this post:
"Washing rice causes rice to lose up to 7% protein, 30% crude fiber, 15% free amino acids, 25% calcium (Ca), 47% total phosphorus (P), 47% iron (Fe), 11% zinc (Zn), 41% potassium (K), 59% thiamine, 26% riboflavin, and 60% niacin." [Source: http://www.christopherteh.com/blog/2017/11/washed-rice-water]


Today, it gives us a lot of flowers which is more than what we can consume. So, I give some to my friends and family and let them try it too. :) They were so eager to try it when they knew about its benefits. ;)

Clitoria Ternatea is commonly used as a tea, some call it Blue Tea as the natural color of its flower will fade when boiled or put on hot water. The tea doesn't taste that bad and you can make a refreshing juice when you add lemon or calamansi and honey to the extract that you collected from the flower.
 Here's a reference to a study made on Clitoria Ternatea and its benefits on its subject/s:

Clitoria ternatea , commonly known as Shankpushpi, is widely used in the traditional Indian system of medicine as a brain tonic and is believed to promote memory and intelligence. We examined the effectiveness of alcoholic extracts of aerial and root parts of C. ternatea at 300 and 500 mg/kg doses orally in rats in attenuating electroshock-induced amnesia. Extracts at 300 mg/kg dose produced significant memory retention, and the root parts were found to be more effective. [Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21214440]

YOU are STRONGER than your ANXIETY. This is what I always say to myself whenever I am having an anxiety attack or panic attack. 

It's been months since I had an anxiety/panic attack. Recently, I had an attack and it took a while to subside... Later that afternoon, while we were riding a jeepney on our way home, I was silently praying that God would take away this feeling and asking Him to save me. In just a few seconds after that short prayer, I heard one of my favorite Christian songs. At first, I thought I was just hearing it because I was having an attack and the volume was really low that I can't hardly hear it. Then a few seconds later, I can hear the song clearly, it's "One Way" by Hillsong United. I smiled and was about to cry because I know it's God and He heard my silent prayer.

I sing along as the songs were played and I feel calm and relieved knowing He responded to my prayer... The lyrics in the songs are like His message to me and I am happy knowing He's always there for me when I needed Him...

My daughter got her first bicycle 2years ago, when she was 5 years old, it is a git from her generous Ninong. Just a few months ago, she insisted to take the training wheels out of her bike. She was really determined and wants to ride the bike on her own without the training wheels. I was hesitant and said no. But she keeps on bugging us for weeks saying she really know how to ride her bike without the training wheels. And then one day I give in... I told her that it's not easy and she must be patient and that it's alright if she might fall because this is just her first time to ride without the training wheels.

So, we took off her training wheels and guide her to ride the bike on her own...  But deep inside I am afraid to let her go, there are a lot of things that are running on my mind, a lot of "What if's"... But then I thought, she would never learn if we won't let her do it on her own. When we let her go, she rode the bike with ease and we were surprised that she really did know how to ride the bike without the training wheels! I was really surprised and happy at the same time, cheering on her as she keeps on riding the bike far away from us...

This experience has taught us a lesson... That we have to let our kids do things on their own, to venture on their own and give them a chance to do things alone and learn from their mistakes. We are so attached to our children that we forget that they need to grow up too, to be independent and overcome any challenges on their own.

She's still young and there will be a lot of letting go scenes in the future. I just hope that I will be able to let her go without feeling anxious... And guide her and say positive words to lift her self esteem and be a better version of herself and to just be there for her always...

Stumbled on this video, Yoga For Anxiety and Stress and thought of trying it and see if there's an improvement.

Kids nowadays are not getting enough exercise, they are so fond of using smartphones, tablets and other gadgets for entertainment. It's nice because some apps are educational but excessive use of it might lead to serious health issues. I've seen a lot of stories about the effects and dangers of excessive screen time on children especially the younger ones. That's why I limit my daughter's screen time. I rarely let her use our phones or tablet, although sometimes I let her watch movies during weekends only. I want her to experience playing outside with other children without using any gadgets and enjoy her childhood like I enjoyed mine. :)

My daughter always say "I'm bored" especially when she see a kid or group of kids playing with their gadgets. I have also observed that when the screen time is over, she keep on saying "I'm bored", which is already annoying because she'll keep on bugging you thinking she will get to use the gadgets again if she'll cry and persist on what she wants. I pity her sometimes, thinking she's the only one who don't have a gadget to play on, but I stand firm on my decision to lessen her screen time to no screen time at all (if it can be helped) because it is for her own good anyway. I don't really give in to the tantrums, and when I say "NO", it's already final and I have to be firm about it.

So, when I found out about the Boredom Jar just recently, I was so happy and I must say, it is really effective! I made my own list and when I heard her say "I'm bored" again, I told her about the Boredom Jar and how it works. As I was writing and adding up more tasks, my little one helped me fold the papers and she also thought of some things to do and add it up to her Boredom Jar! Hahaha!

I actually have no extra jar at home, so I make use of our old coin bank and use it as our Boredom Jar. ;)

By the way, here are some of the things she did today because she is bored... I loved the note that she made for me... She's so sweet... <3

I have a lot of things to add up on our list soon, because I know she's so hooked up with this activity and had picked a lot of papers inside and did all of them. I guess I made her busy and kept her boredom away. What a great way to unplugged. Happy Mom here... :)