Where IS Everybody????

is everybody planting their gardens?
i really miss all of you sisters!.....love terry

Happy Anniversary!

All of your sisters and miss scarf and miss apron are sending out happy greetings to you, char and to your sweetheart for a happy anniversary..we hope that david has fun too!

Anniversary |

Fare Thee Well, Miss Apron!

Finally the day has come to bid Miss Apron adieu!

This morning I packed my bags once again, for another airplane ride to our nation's capital city, Manila. Of course, dear Miss Apron was with me.

Above is the last apron photo I'm posting about the Apron Philippine Adventures -- and it shows me and Miss Apron together...

It was fun taking all those pictures, and writing about the adventures of two aprons!

Thank you dear sisters for having given me the chance to be a part of your lives.

Within the next few days I will be sending her off to the next sister...

Stay tuned for the next round of Apron Adventures! Watch your mailboxes!

Day 7: Healing and Restoration

Yesterday Thursday, Miss Apron went with me to the weekly lunch and spiritual mentoring group that I belong to. We are called the "Women of Purpose" and we function under the Women's Ministries of our church.

This is open to all women who wish to come, but not very many can make it. The faithful ones who do come every week have developed a bond of friendship that keep growing with every passing week.

The meeting is held at a different home each week, and this week we held it at the lovely home of a lady named Lagrimas and her husband Miguel. We call her Lagi for short (it is pronounced as LAH-GI').

Seven months ago, Lagi suffered a stroke while driving on her way to their farm, and seconds later, met a terrible accident when the SUV she was driving hit a truck. Due to her presence of mind, although her head was already bleeding profusely, she was still able to phone her husband, who immediately arrived to help attend to her.

Because of the stroke the right side of her body was paralyzed. We all went into intense prayer for her recovery, healing, and restoration.

Many adjustments had of course been made over the past months, as well as many realizations on her part and that of her whole family. It brought her whole family to a deeper level of trusting God, opening their eyes to the fact that He alone could break through for them and move them up to the next spiritual level of their lives.

Today, Lagi is already walking, as she has slowly begun to regain the movement she thought she had lost. Lagi and her family are very generous with their resources.

Lagi is also an art lover, as can be seen from the way she has decorated her home with lovely art pieces. She also loves fresh flower arrangements.

The special thing that I remember about Lagi is that she and her husband used to live in the house where we live in today, more than thirty years ago!

We are all believing that God is still moving to restore and heal Lagi!




I asked Lagi's youngest daughter Therese to pose with Miss Apron, and she was quite happy to do so, as can be seen in the pictures below:

Here's Therese posing with Miss Apron just before lunch is served.
Therese is a Math professor at a prominent university here in our city.
April 15

This is Therese, still wearing Miss Apron, with her mom, Lagi.

A lovely painting in the corner of their dining area,
depicting native fruits.
Do you recognize papaya and watermelon in the painting?

A fresh flower arrangement, with young bamboo shoots added as an accent

Another flower arrangement, and another painting,
in their living room.

A group picture taken after the lesson.
Four of the women, the ones in identical blouses,
hold different positions in our church office
(most offices in our country require their employees to wear uniforms.)

Sure IS Springtime In Connie's Texas!

dear connie..your lovely flowers and gardens moved me so much that i just had to put this in from you tube...it is rather long but it is sooooo lovely..
we are just now beginning to get a little spring here in southern ontario...love terry

SPRINGTIME IN TEXAS!!

This is for my sisters who live in other parts of the country where it can't make up its mind if its Spring or not. Here in Texas it most definitely is!!

Come up to my house and I'll show you around the place! To the left is the flowerbed with Bluebonnets. The Redbud tree has already bloomed and just a hint of purple remains. In the back is one of our Slash Pine Trees, when we bought them 16 years ago, they were 6-8 feet tall!
Bluebonnets, the State flower of Texas!
A close up, of our State flower. April is peak wildflower season here along Texas' highways where fields of blue as well as the reddish oranges of Indian Paintbrush prevail!
In the side flowerbed, a miniature rosebush (a Mother's Day gift form Jennifer and Corey a few years ago) is full of buds alongside the Hydrangea Bushes and the English Ivy.
The mint for my tea is growing quite well.

Lilies are coming up once more in the side flower bed along with all of the new growth on the Ivy.
Spanish Lavender in bloom next to the shed.
Columbine in the back canoe planter. We have 2 Canoe planters, one in the back and one in the front. These old canoes have seen a lot of recreational use and when they were no longer sea worthy, Dave couldn't bear to part with them!
Shamrocks and Coleus (barely visible to the right), some white flowers (perennial) that I can't remember the name of, along with some yet to bloom-yellow Columbine.
Texas Lavender greening up. They will be covered all summer long in purple flowers!
I am CRAZY about roses! Here's some of the bushes growing in the bed underneath Charlie's bedroom window!
These are not only beautiful but extremely fragrant!

This is our newest rosebush. It's orange, smells heavenly and replaced a bush that wasn't doing very well.
The front Canoe planter complete with rosemary and other colorful flowers. We try and plant drought resistant flowers because by July, everything is being baked to death in the Texas heat! There is a yellow rose bush to the right of the planter. "The Yellow Rose of Texas"...
Underneath the window of what is now the Scrapbooking Room, are white daisies about to bloom under the watchful eye of a single white rose waiting to unfold!
The view from the street. The Crepe Myrtle tree is beginning to get it's leaves. It will bloom in late June and have magenta colored flowers all summer long!

Happy Spring Sisters!

Day 6: A Tale of Two Aprons!

The much awaited apron has finally arrived at my home. Here she is pictured above together with the waterproof envelope from Manitoba, Canada in which she came.

Inside the envelope was this beautiful prayer of blessing from Rebecca,


and a plaque from Terry on which were written one of my favorite passages from the Bible!



Thank you, my dear friends Rebecca and Terry! I want you to know that the gifts you sent were both a confirmation of the messages that God has been speaking to my heart these past weeks!



All is well in Apron Blogville again now that the mystery of the missing apron has been solved.

I looked at the postmarks and found out a few things. Miss Apron left Canada on the first week of March, and arrived in the Philippines on March 30. Her arrival hit the Holy Week long weekend, and she reached our city of Bacolod after Easter. But it was only yesterday, April 13, the same day I arrived from Manila that the parcel was claimed from the post office.




How did it feel to finally have the apron in my own hands?

Funny, because of all the hullabaloo these past weeks over this piece of clothing, it almost felt like I was holding a relic!

If my husband were alive today, I can just imagine all the funny remarks he would be making, he did have such a great sense of humor! I know I would never hear the end of it, I just know.

Well, I really do not know how most of you feel... most of you have been pretty silent all this time...

But to be honest, there were times when it felt silly taking out the substitute apron out of hiding, and carefully putting her on top of suitcases, books, theater seats, on restaurant tables, taking her to a wedding and a birthday party, parks, malls, and airports!

Before this adventure, I thought that an apron was only worn in the kitchen, to keep our clothes from getting dirty while preparing meals!

Well, not anymore. Now you can actually bring an apron to church and social gatherings, and ask your friends to pose with them. Or put it on the dashboard, and take a picture of it and the road ahead...

When it comes to apron adventures, anything and everything is possible!

What will Mrs. Mac think of next?

So, while I will be missing my opportunity to actually cook with the one and only Original- Sisterhood-of-the-Traveling-Scarf Apron, I do appreciate having had Miss Substitute Apron around, who was such a good sport and did come in very handy, enabling me to have something tangible to have an apron adventure with!

Taking pictures, writing blog posts, uploading pictures on blogger... oh well, you know ...that took up a bit of time, too!

But it was fun!

And now, here are a few more pictures before the time comes to send Miss Apron on to the next sister:

The two aprons finally meet!

Miss Original Apron's first day out.
Here she sits on the dashboard of Miriam's car,
on our way to a breakfast date.
April 14


At lunchtime, our friends gave Ann a birthday treat at a Chinese
dimsum restaurant.
Here Miss Apron is worn by Ann, the birthday celebrant.
Aren't they pretty together?
April 14

Day 5: The Apron Has Landed...

...in Manila!

This is Miss Apron and me at the Manila International Airport,
upon our arrival on March 31

An excerpt from my Apron Journal dated March 31, 2010

Today, March 31, Miss Apron and I arrived in Manila.

This is an unexpected trip, considering that I got back home to Bacolod City only a week ago. But after receiving an invitation to do a Financial Seminar for the Holy Week , and asking God to confirm if this is indeed an assignment from Him, and getting a clear green light signal, I packed my bags again (which anyway had not yet been fully unpacked!) and WENT!

Of course, Miss Apron was very much on my mind, for I have not forgotten that I am on an Apron Adventure, and that the star of the show was nobody else but Miss Apron herself.

So here we are, at about 6 o'clock in Manila, at the Bacolod Silay Airport, waiting to board our flight to Manila.



(To read more on how I spent my Holy Week in Manila, you may want to visit my series of posts entitled: Walkway Reflections.)


It was a fully booked two weeks in Manila. Everywhere I went, I had Miss Substitute Apron quietly sleeping in my handbag, ready to be taken out for a photo op.

Of course all the time I kept wishing I had the original Miss Apron with me, for after all...she's the one with the history, the one who had been to all those places and homes featured on our blog...

Well, anyway, over the past days, I have been busy taking pictures of the places my little apron has been to, it was about time I shared an Apron Update with you my dear Apron sisters.

April 2, Good Friday, while waiting for my takeout at TGI Fridays,
Bonifacio High Street

Posing with the bag of takeout lunch, just before being put back inside the bag

Miss Apron and me in front of one of the shops at the lobby of Shangri-la Plaza Mall

Saturday, April 3, inside Fully Booked bookstore at the EDSA Shangri-la Plaza

Miss Apron goes to Victory Christian Fellowship Church at Quezon City
on Resurrection Sunday, April 4

A shot before the worship service begins...
Miss Apron with me, Obedient One, and Trudi!

At the Global City on Resurrection Sunday April 4.

On our way out of Bonifacio High Street,
it was already evening, and the fountains were all so refreshing.

On April 6, Miss Apron joins me for a bunch of lunch at Shakey's Pizza
at the Alabang Town Center in Muntinglupa City

Miss Apron rides the train on our way to Trinoma Mall in Quezon City
Sunday April 11

A unique fountain where the water shoots up to a pool on the next level

Trinoma Mall, April 11

Miss Apron and me are now back at the airport,

waiting to board our flight back to Bacolod City

April 13

Just a few minutes before landing,

I looked out the window to see acres and acres of brown agricultural land.

I was shocked! Our land is really experiencing a severe drought.

And then as the plane was on its final approach to my island,

I looked out again, and imagine my surprise to see such greenery!

What a joy it brought to my heart.

The view outside my window just seconds before landing...

And this picture was taken from the window next to me, home again!

Miss Apron and I are back in Bacolod City!

April 12

So this series of picture ends the Apron Adventure in this part of the Philippines. While I was in Manila, my son called me to say that a postal notice has arrived for me, which means that sitting in the post office is a parcel addressed to me.

Of course, I have no way of telling if the parcel is the much awaited original apron or not, until I pick it up!

So stay tuned, dear friends... now off to the post office I go!

Meanwhile, here is a poster we saw at one of the malls we visited in Manila... and I think this is a good question that Miss Apron can answer!