FARM TO DIE FOR

Foot bridge to go to Tita Adel's farm..














Her mango grove....











I love these Gazebos...











Flowers, fruit trees and foliage...




Gosh.. a farm to die for! 23 hectares of mango orchard and still growing. And guys, it all started out as a hobby, Tita Adel Batac was shown this wild parcel of land and fell in love with it. She wasnt an agriculturist but she had a vision!!

Make the story short, she bought the land inspite of hubby's resistance , studied some Agronomy subjects (one condition, no exam sir!), she tilled the land and lo.. She is exporting mangoes to Japan. Tita Adel is such a fun person, so young looking, bubbly. She sang, danced, laughed and entertained us.. and prepared a wonderful meal, what else can u ask for.

Her place is heaven.. i like the gazebos, she has four of them. Lots of flowers and foliage. She lends her place to a University for some Agricultural experiments. This is a farm i like, i can stay here forever -just connect me to a wifi..

Organizing your bedroom - work in progress

I entitled this a work in progress because i am still in the stage of convincing owners of these rooms (real names are withheld since they might kill me) to let me help them organize their stuff. But putting order in your own space and maintaining it is a daily work in progress.. Many of us jampack our very limited time with accomplishing work that we forget to include a little time each day to put order in our stuff. After a days work, we throw our bags and files and mails and shopping bags in any free space of our room so these pictures look damn familiar right?...uh ohhh...


We keep files of our teaching stint decades ago just in case we want to get back to that noble profession or we teach that same subject again.. and files of that unfinished thesis that we hope to find time to integrate data we've gathered and finish off that MBA.. and handouts from several seminars and folders of receipts we have or havent recorded..


lo and behold... folders file up under the table, over any free space in every man created shelvings


i've proven this, given a space, a shelf, a drawer , even a storage room and i bet you, i give you a week to about two months.. matter will occupy that space.. every single space.. Agree?


Familiar scenes ? i hope not.. but these are mild.. i have seen worse and i am sure i havent seen the worst yet. How do we avoid these? how do we put order and maintain it?
Many people have offered solutions, you can read them in magazines and web sites offering step by step effective organizing tips.. I dont want to add to that, but i can tell you.. there is no hopeless case UNLESS YOU DONT WANT TO...

No time? You can get some professional help to do it with you. I know it takes time to do this which you do not have. One room like this can take a day to sort and organize. Professional organizers have the experience (they would know best attack strategy) and COURAGE (YES!!) for these monumental tasks. I say courage because in all the organizing projects I did, convincing the household staff to get it started TODAY was met with every imaginable excuse..But once you get it started, everyone gets bitten by that organizing bug..

No space? I am a miracle worker with regards to space..Just simply sorting and categorizing and putting order, you will free up 1/2 of space in that same room!! Thats guaranteed.. Shelvings (to multiply space), transparent plastic boxes(to organize), pentel pen&paper(to label), and ladder,rags& trash bag are a must!

One more thing.. BE READY TO GET DIRTY!!

KIitchen Organizers for Small Spaces

Organizing akitchen does not always involve costly renovations. Some simple organizing products will do the job and maximize those cabinets and drawers that came along with your house. Below are some ideas,  I found these things in IKEA. Many home depots like Howard, Make Room, Muji will carry these products as well. They come in different sizes and styles to suit your kitchen and pantry needs.

Stemware Holder

This is a stem ware organizer. This allows you to store stemware upside down preventing dust and dirt from accumulating inside the cabinet. It also allows you to store more stemware as it uses the upper space. It is also safe on the glass mouth.

Stacking Shelf

Most architects and engineers are tall male specie and they do not understand the functions of kitchen drawers and cabinets, So if you do not work closely with them during construction or if you acquired your house, case is you will have cabinets spaces that does not suit your needs.
For tall cabinet shelves, this stacking shelf provides solution, dividing tall spaces into two so you can stack more dinnerware or glassware or grocery items neatly and maximizing the space inside your cabinets or shelves.


I like the design of this dinnerware cabinet. It is located on top of the sink counter, within easy hand reach. It stores your daily used dinnerware neatly.

Flatware Organizer

This flatware organizer is a MUST. It comes in different sizes to fit different pantry drawers.

Go and visit your nearest home depot and check out the items that will suit your needs.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD HOME MANAGER

Trust worthiness should be on top of the list. You would be entrusting your home to her, that includes the very important responsibility of recruiting your household staff. We are living in present day where we have heard so many incidents of household robberies, big and small. We do not want bad elements inside our homes and should there be any, our home manager should be able to detect and prevent any untoward incident.
Love for the Family and Home and all home tasks. The responsibility of taking part in the upbringing of a family is a great privilege and honor that it should manifest in the joy in carrying out ones task lovingly and gracefully. How i love to see a home manager who is so refined and sophisticated in doing her job you would think you are watching Lifestyle network... Care for details, for little things, love for fine things.. these are signs of a home manager who is a treasure!!
Handling people well is another important quality. She should be able to manage your staff, win their confidence and continually motivate them in carrying out their tasks efficiently and rally them in times of big events. I should add that she must put a premium in the concern for continuous development of her staff and their well being.
Professionalism and Technical skills can never be lacking because that is how you win the respect of your entire staff. That includes punctuality, preparedness, physical grooming, and basic knowledge in all aspects of running the home. The work in the home is a profession and must be carried out scientifically and artistically.
There are many other qualities you might want in home manager, but these are most important to every housewife.

You need a Home Manager

French call them majordome  or Butlers  in the British isles, in American tradition- home managers.. any which ways, the are responsible for the management oh the household which is typically large residence. They manage the cleaning and maintenance, kitchen, laundry and all other in house or outsourced household services . Family life has become so complex especially for a large household that the role of household manager has been much needed to assist the mothers who are working.

They act as point person in your house such that all the household needs and services are coordinated and tasks are delegated efficiently among the household staff for a smooth service delivery. Without a trained supervising mayordoma, your typical kasambahay will carry on with their own tasks and not coordinate among themselves, and would require your time and focus to do the coordination. Seem so normal and easy to do, unless you, housewife, are busy with an 8-hour professional work. So many things happen through out the day at home that you only know too well- school projects and extra curricular  of kids, driver coordination, emergencies, guests, bills to pay, appliance needing repair, parties to plan, doctor appointments,... etc.  To add to that you have a new house maid or two went on day off.. oh dear ..

If you've got the time, well and good for you, if not, get a well trained household manager for you peace of mind.  One good tip, have a logbook to input all your bilins (daily concerns) for your mayordoma to take note of and at the end of the day, she can note down day's update and accomplishments.. Can tell you more about this topic in my next blog..