Merry Christmas 2015

Greetings to all our family and friends! Merry Christmas,  and Happy and Prosperous New Year 2016!!

I was particularly pleased with the camera-results of this late-dusk photo.  The scene is on the main Highway, around the corner and about 100 yards from our home.  I haven't got all the automatic and default controls sorted out on the "new" camera yet, and it just seems quite a bit more complicated to set up than the previous one I had for 5 years.  (The lighted objects on the roof appear to be reindeer, but there is no sleigh - - -)

Most of our news for year 2015 has already been posted here during the year, but I will give a recap of the major events and how we are all doing, followed by a gallery of Christmas photos from nearby, followed by a miscellaneous batch of things I see while I'm searching my photo-files for the photos I've already mentioned!  (See upper-right of this page for fairly easy-to-use links "backward in time" to all the earlier postings.)

We have had a good year of accomplishments.  The major impact things were the cottage at our farm about a mile from this house which is in town, the arrival of the Yamaha music keyboard from the USA, several trips to the most distant side of Panay Island and to Iloilo, and the gradual "moving along" of projects which we hope will increase our comfort, independence, and general happiness here.  Things happen much more slowly here than they do in the USA, mostly, and we are gradually adapting.

Our health is pretty good,  though we are challenged at times by the sheer amount of energy it takes to do things.  Neither one of us has ever been quite as old as we are now (!), and the climate here also puts some restraints on us; I stay in the shade as much as possible, and usually within range of an electric fan.  An example of "typical:" this morning at 6:00 a.m. the temperature was a crisp 78 F. degrees, and I expect it to go to mid- 90s by about noon.  As this is pretty much the year-round condition here,  our activity level must adjust!   I still get in a pretty good day's work a lot of the time - - always grateful that my "work" is now whatever "hobby-project" I happen to be interested in at a given time.  Bernadette has been able recently to spend half-days at a time tending to the farm-garden, which is her particular joy.  The gardening here is quite different from what is familiar to us from Kentucky, but gradually we hope to have better production and more variety.

Daughter Thea has worked for most of the year at Bacolod City on Negros Island, about 130 miles away.  This link should show her location ,and ours.    She handles customer service calls for some communications-package USA based companies, and particularly enjoys working her usual customer-base area which is North and South Carolinas.  Her husband Joseph and son Timmie alternate staying with us and with Joseph's  mom about 7 miles away.  Joseph is in the process of taking his "teaching review" which is a cram-course that education majors here take to review everything they ever learned, in preparation for taking the teacher-licensing exam.  We expect that he will have his paperwork all finished and be employable as a teacher, within the next few months.  At about 19 months old, Timmie gets involved in nearly every little project that goes on around him.  He shows signs of being pretty "bright" but so far he isn't speaking very much.  When he decides to start talking, we will probably end up wishing he wouldn't, so much - - - 

I have the pleasure now of spending a few hours each week - whenever I feel like it - working on music, and have been able to relearn quite a few things I'd nearly forgotten how to play, most recently a handful of Christmas carols which are "buggary" (complicated, at least for me) on the keyboard.   Our Filipino friends seem to really enjoy singing English-language songs, and I often hear the kids and youth spontaneously singing/ humming/ whistling the "old familiar" songs.  Most of them are pretty fluent with English (though still a little shy of conversation), and they learn "new" music pretty quickly.   

And that's about "it."  We rock along in our daily lives, pretty comfortable most of the time. For 2016 we hope to finally get a little more results from vegetable gardening (home-made salsa! Pizza! Pickles!), maybe raise a hog or two, or get a couple goats, and continue trying to have more variety and less dependence on the food sources here.  I'd like to start learning how to process dairy products, since many products I took for granted and enjoyed all my life are just not readily available.  (There simply is NO "culture"  of milking, cheese-making, etc., in this area. We own three cows, and I still am not successful in obtaining a couple quarts of milk per day to experiment with!  Working on it, though - - -)

We wish each of you, and those dear to you, a measure of contentment and a satisfying sense of useful accomplishment, and a prosperous year 2016.

Christmas in the Philippines 

(I just had to see if I could do THAT with the text colors). (NOW I see I "goofed" one of the color changes but I'M NOT going back and changing the whole thing!!)  

In our area Christmas stays pretty simple for most people.  There just isn't the "optional funding" here, although at this time of the near most people have enough for their basic needs.  In the cities and places-more-prosperous, the "western" culture is pretty visible with people rushing around shopping and decorating; in our area a few people put up strings of lights and other decorations, and quite a few gather materials to make "trees."  Here's a gallery of trees placed in front of homes nearby:

A pole in the middle and various-sized hoops make a good "foundation" for placing decorations.

Looks like a lot of time and work went into making all the foil-covered decorations here

The camera just could not pick up the prism-  rainbow effect of sunlight hitting hundreds of CD-disc decorations, but it is striking and really pretty.

.

This one gets a "star" in the "creative use of materials" division.

I have spent 30 minutes trying to get the text to go on the right side of the above photo and it refuses to do so.  The several ones above did OK.   This looks like a commercial "artificial" Christmas tree, with lights for night- time display.  This type of tree is available in mall-type stores in cities, but the quality usually isn't good and pricing of the ones we have seen  is several times higher than similar ones would be in the USA.  "Supply and demand" rule in action.

Seems like this is the place to start the "miscellaneous" items.  I had a couple more trees but by now you've gotten the general idea.  I'm impressed very often with how endlessly creative the people here seem to be.  

Added note:  I forgot to mention about Christmas caroling, which is almost a "cottage industry" here.  Anytime after Dec. 1, small groups of local urchins may appear outside our gate of an evening, usually banging and rattling tin cans, singing seasonal selections and hoping for a few pesos.  We have had actual NOTICES brought by several charitable groups, saying that they will pass by to sing and requesting donations for the less fortunate. So each evening, especially this week before Christmas, we have several visits by singers. 

I walked out to the rice-field a few days ago.  We have a loan "out"

to the owner of the field, which gives us the use of the field and the

first "option to buy" if the field is sold.  The road frontage is about

80 feet and I measured seemingly about 400 feet with my 100 foot

long tape measure (I got stuck in mud and had to give up before I

made the full length of the field).  This is prime rice-field, producing

3 crops per year; our last several crops have been between 25

and 35 sacks; we end up with about 60% to 65% of the total yield

and the rest goes as "shares" to our field manager and reapers.

It's not a big-time money getter, but it is a useful way to offset

some of our expenses.

This closer photo shows nice heavy-looking seed heads; we

think that our harvest will be in about one week, sometime

between Christmas and New Year.

Nannies and kids are staked out anywhere there is

available forage, including in cities.  These were beside

the rice field as I walked; reminding me that in any little

neighborly dispute here, your opponent could literally

"get your goat." 

(Link to online slang dictionary heading "get your goat.")

People of all ages are seen everywhere carrying all

sorts of "cargo."  These ladies are carrying bundles of

firewood a distance of a mile or more; very little

cooking is done with cooking-gas fires here, as it

is too expensive.

Seems like barely two weeks ago I was accidentally at the

"ground breaking" of this new school classroom unit.  Our

cousin who is on the crew told me that this was "day #22"

as I took the photo.  That's moving along pretty fast, as 

all of the construction methods here are "by hand."  

Malabor Elementary School is at the inside "end" of our

street, 50 yards from our gate and 100 yards from the

main highway.   (Upper right of this page, see BLOG

postings for January thru June of 2013, for a good

coverage of construction process here.)

I often enjoy finding unintended messages on signs and

labels.  These "Happy  Less Grease Peanuts" tickled

my humor because I couldn't imagine a USA label

EVER mentioning the word "GREASE."   "Less Grease"

seems to be a good recommendation, here.

We've had the Suzuki double-cab for 16 months now and

it has proven to be a good choice for us, giving lots of

versatility in cargo and passenger loading.  It has hauled

1800 pounds of sacked rice for short distances, and 1400

pounds of bagged cement for several miles.  We haven't

figured out the maximum passenger count yet - they are

too many sizes - but the usual answer seems to be,

 "one more!"  It's economical and fun to drive; it rides 

a little rough, so I take frequent breaks on trips of

more than an hour or so.   Suzuki has been making

this basic vehicle for 25 or more years, and as far

as anyone knows there is no owner's manual or

shop service manual available.  This particular one

is a "chop job", having been a mini-van for most

of its life before we got it (and we suspect it may

also have originally been right-hand drive).

Well, there's no reason for this posting to be real long.  We do hope for all of you that your days will be "merry and bright."  Each of you are in our thoughts, more often than you may guess!  I occasionally look through my contacts list just for the pleasure of remembering all the little events that made up long-time friendships with many of you. 

Have a great rest- of- the- day, whatever time it is for you, and God bless you all!

Tim and Bernadette Larson,

Antique Province, Philippines

3 years in the Philippines (Thankfully)

I keep thinking that I'll eventually catch up.  So for several months I have "procrastinated in rotation" by trying to focus on only 1 or 2 things on the "to-do list" at a time, and letting go of other items.  This only works if the items turn out to be doable.   Pretty often the 1 or 2 "active" items will both hit impassable snags and I'll rotate to other projects.    Eventually, usually, things line up so that I can get back to the interrupted items and push them along, sometimes to completion, sometimes just to the next snag.

With three years now in the Philippines, I'm learning that lots of things are less urgent in fact than they seem to be when I think about them.  Food, water, shelter, electric fans, and a decent night's sleep are pretty much the top level of urgent needs, here. Having something which seems worthwhile to do just about sums up the rest of what I really need.  And since I nearly always have a backlog of projects and plans, I'm learning not to let that bother me. This area is NOT a place where things will happen in the  way which would be expected in the USA;  to move 12,000 miles and expect "sameness" would be ridiculous.

For now, the best project will be to try to get all my "readers" caught up with what has been happening here for the last  few months. 

  Perhaps the most notable event was the arrival of a Yamaha

music- keyboard the last week of June.  I'd had nothing to

play on for 2- 1/2 years, except a small "personal entertainment"

keyboard made available on Sunday mornings.  Until living

here, I had taken for granted having at least a piano or

electronic keyboard, and sometimes a fairly substantial

organ to practice on.  This long period without a keyboard
showed me how much I had relied on the music work as
a creative outlet and stress reliever.  I'm really thankful
that it is here!

This nearly-professional level keyboard came with a ready

made stand which I use in the small "parlor" at home.

Grandson Timmie is always interested in helping out.

To reach its full usefulness, the keyboard must travel frequently.

So, a few weeks went into making a heavy, padded wooden

carrying case, designed so the keyboard never needs to come

out of it when in use;  and a well-braced stand which disassem-

bles quickly for transport.

The keyboard is too long to fit in the car or in the cargo bed,

so it rides in a weatherproof carrier atop the vehicle. Building

this was another few-week project.

Meanwhile, the cottage project which began early this year hit a series of snags when it was just short of "occupy-able completeness."  Roof and walls were finished and electricity hooked up, but the bathroom wasn't finished, and some "construction detailing" and small projects remained.

As we approached for a work-day on November 11th, we found

the local neighborhood road-crew just beginning to set forms

to extend the concrete roadway past our main gate.

We parked a little distance away as we came and went  for a couple
days, and carried our supplies to the cottage.  Two work-days got

the plumbing finished and connected, and most of the  concrete

work completed in the bathroom; there will be another layer of
smooth cement in there, and some epoxy-color coating applied

on the shower and sink area.  The "back field" behind the house

has been plowed and  we will soon be growing garden crops there.

November is a good time of year to be growing vegetables here,
after the main rainy season but with still enough water and some

"less hot"*  weather.  Most vegetables should be "coming in" in late
January and February.   *(I edited!  -  having mistakenly typed the
word "cooler,"  which absolutely would convey the wrong idea
about this area.)  (This morning at 5:00 a.m., the overnight LOW
showing on my thermometer  was 77 F., typical for us.)

The road project was poured half-width in two days' time,

and has since been completed, including a fine, wide drive-

way apron leading onto our parking- pad.

The property where we live in town is only a little over a mile from the farm.  Here there is little space to spare.  We will end up with about 75%  of our 40 x 80 foot lot roofed in various ways.  One "relief" is that we also have a separate 40 x 60 yard which we use mostly for poultry.  There are a dozen or so chickens, four geese, and 8 or 10 ducks.  The populations are growing at the moment with the addition of 3 broods of chicks and I think 2 broods of ducks. 

Our "inside kitchen"  is a 5 x 13 foot space along the back wall

of the house.  The small "work counter" is usually occupied by

stored items.  The actual working space is usually the dining

table which is several steps away, and separated by a display-

shelf "room divider."  Lack of storage and work space makes
any food preparation task a real hassle.  

This cabinet which has been in-process for a couple months

is just now beginning to help us with the storage.  It still needs

its main shelves divided and set up with "clever little ideas"

to make the best use of the space.  (Now, it will take some
time, and some usage, for me to gradually come up with
the ideas and get them "made.")   The cabinet would have
been a 1 to 2 day build-project in the USA.   HOWEVER,

dimensioned lumber and sticks are not available "ready made"

in our area.  Here, the unfinished table-saw (yet another project!!)

has been getting a workout cutting 1 x 2 sticks from a tree-trunk

blank slab; the slab having been cut about a year ago with a

chain-saw.  I have these blanks made whenever tree-wood is

available, and then I cut them to smaller sizes as needed. 

http://tnblarson.blogspot.com/2013/01/hellowes-ho-ho-home-depot.html

This link goes to an early BLOG which details lumber-making here.

 After a few days I end up with 16 door-frame sticks for the

cabinet.  This one is made with a "half-overlap" joint at the

end, and a recessed slot for the front panel of the door to fit.

Other sticks have been made into the face-frame on the front

of the cabinet.

This door frame is just about ready to be glued and nailed,

with the front panel to be installed at the same time.  The

4 doors on the completed cabinet (3 photos above) show

the paintwork which attempts to make it not look "too plain."

There are always plenty of small projects like the ones above, going on and on and on, here.  But that would be pretty much the same anywhere I am.  So now I'll shift topic and try to give you a short look at some things which are particular to our part of the Philippines.

You might be in the Philippines if:  

you've gotten used to scenes like motor-canoes headed out

for night fishing, just at sunset;

3 boys walking with a carabao is not unusual;

 having coffee at church might look like this;

the pink fluid in the Coca-Cola bottles is gasoline

for sale;

your house is endangered by coconuts;  

All sorts of powdered coffee mixes are available with many

odd seeming ingredients (mushroom extract and ginseng?);

this display is in place on Oct. 2 in a department store;

 You might be in the Philippines if a short, daily walk within about 200 yards of your house   can take you to other houses like this one  .  .  .   





                                                   
                                         


 . . . and this one.

A few weeks ago our church had a Saturday outing to a swim-resort.  To reach the site, you must wind your way through country-roads for something over 2 miles from the main road.  Definitely secluded, but impressive a to how elaborate a place can be "in the middle of nowhere."  A few of us "scouted" about 3 days before the event, and  it's a good thing we did, as finding it with a load of people along would have been quite a chore.

The main pool extends to the left of this photo about 60 feet and

is 12 feet deep at the far end.  The small pool to the right is 3 to

4 feet deep and the smaller pool near exact center is about

18 inches deep.   The water slide at upper left is built on the

hillside and is about 70 feet long with 2 small curves. 

 To the right of previous photo is this large  "open pavilion"

building which has vending and swimwear rental.  Upstairs

appears to be planned for a restaurant/ entertainment venue.  

I took this photo immediately on our arrival on the day of the

outing.  ONLY the girl standing behind the car had been an

inside passenger.  The others visible here had all managed to

ride in back with the tailgate closed.  I KNOW there were 13

riders inside, mostly small kids' with 2 or 3 medium adults.

There was discussion later whether the total count was 24,

or 26. THE WEIGHT is something I am careful about, and

this many "small people" amounted to less than 1,400 pounds,

easily within the load range of the vehicle.  I kept the speed at

30 mph and under, for the 14 mile trip.

The sheltered picnic area had hanging gardens - potted in

Coca Cola bottles and suspended with nylon fishing line.

The creativity impressed me.

The water slide in use.  I managed to get on it 4 times; with

about 70 steps up the hillside to reach the top, my slightly

gimpy left leg wanted no more!  (Gotta "save some" for 

the clutch on the way home, me being the only driver.)

But when you get a bunch of Baptists near water, it isn't

just about swimming, usually.  I kidded Pastor Zach about

just sending the candidates down the slide next time, but

he just grinned  (grimaced?).

Well I hadn't intended to go real long with this posting, but as it is Thanksgiving Day I'll include a few scenes of the Thanksgiving potluck  from earlier this week.

 We had an opportunity to share thanksgiving praises.

Later, one end of the table was spread with freshly cut banana

leaves, anticipating the arrival of the "guest of honor" - - -

- - - who arrived in the same manner as the "Ark of the Covenant."

(But I don't think the Jewish priests ever considered using this

method to carry pork.) 

Quite a crowd was moving in and out of this circle, gathered

around one event- of- interest,

which turned out to be ice-cream dipping.  I was only "thankful"

to get close enough, through the press of bodies, to get

a quick free-hand camera shot, which happened to catch

the "real action."  (Yeah, I got some ice cream, later.)

Well, it is Saturday morning after Thanksgiving Day, and I have finally got back to what I was doing on Wednesday and the early part of Thursday.  There are more photos that I could put up, but I think this is a pretty long posting already.  

I'm not ONLY thankful on Thanksgiving Day!  We have been here at Tibiao  for a little over three years, and - except for the expected "challenging days" which come along - I'm GLAD to be here.  I get to choose how to spend my time, now, and I enjoy most of what I'm doing. Attitude determines the outcome of many things,  and I can purposefully CHOOSE for my attitude to be "gratitude," regardless of how things seem to be going at a given moment. My challenges (mostly things being uncooperative as I "tinker and make") are the "backside of blessings!"  The BLESSING is having the things which have the NEED to be worked on, and of having the materials and inclination to do so!  But I admit I still haven't developed a LOVE of grinding and filing metal - - - 

(Google Map link which hopefully shows our location:  https://www.google.com.ph/maps/place/Tibiao,+Antique/@10.2302167,117.8278081,6.25z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x33af945fc45116eb:0x4765a8250b35d3da?hl=en&hl=en )

Our hope for each of you is that you find the place best suited for you and enjoy the life that the Creator has given you.  Have a wonderful day!

Tim and Bernadette Larson

Tibiao, Antique Province, Philippines

LATER FOOTNOTE:  I have tried 5 or 6 times to correct the text alignment of the last few paragraphs, but the "system" just refuses to let me do it!  Sorry if it ends up looking a bit "funny."