@marla
@marla
YELLOW WATERMELON I only knew in my life that watermelon is red. Of course the part that we eat😉. Until early this year when my sister bought yellow watermelon. We can't really tell on the outside because it's green like any other watermelon. But I tell you what, watermelon is watermelon😁. Red or yellow, round or oblong, they taste the same. Refreshing, hydrating fruit. The only difference is the color and maybe slightly on nutrients depends on the color. Apparently, yellow…
@marla
Conquering fear is not easy. It needs courage to go forward...don't stop. You can move slowly, that's alright... ...at least, you are moving forward. Don't rush...keep expectations low. Don't be afraid making mistakes, learn from them. Don't mind what other people say, do your best. Keep going...keep going... until fear disappeared. I'll be quoting this quote by W. Clement Stone, " Thinking will not overcome fear but action will." This says it all. Sharing with you my…
@marla
Hello all fellow noisers👋👋👋 I hope today goes great and the rest of the week will be even better🙂 I will be talking about the generous guava tree in our backyard. It's yielding lots of fruit but unfortunately, none can be consumed. I picked up one guava one day... I put it down overnight, the next morning it was soft and lying on gooey fluid🤢. My sister said, it's not good for consumption for that means there must be something creepy crawly inside the fruit. Then that…
@marla
Asking questions is always a smart thing to do... We can imagine a child with wide open eyes, eagerly asking questions. Why is the sky blue? Why aren't there any more dinosaurs? What are black holes? Questions after questions after questions, because children are curious, they have the desire to learn. Adults can also ask questions. We do that to find our way, ask for direction when we are lost. We ask questions to learn of dangers that we need to avoid. Or we ask questions…
@marla
I am calling this "a close call"... My brother is using this huge bougainvilla as a shelter from the sun for his car. He's gone out of town, it rained and the bougainvilla gone heavy from the downpour. So what was 1 foot gap was now...hmmm, it is really close. Oh well, I guess my brother will be trimming this bougainvilla again so his car will stay scratch free. Someday soon, this car will have a proper shelter. Now I am wondering what will happen to this bougainvilla when…
@marla
My sister and her husband visited the Maldives two weeks ago and shared few photos in our family's group chat, no worries, I asked for permission to use them, haha. 🤗 Looking at these photographs is already relaxing. Imagine the sea breeze, the sound of the waves, the heat of the sunshine, the peaceful environment. Just you and few people and the nature. For sure, I will sleep well in this environment.😉🌴🌴🌴 The truth is, getting on a vacation has it's own stresses. Planning,…
@marla
Overthinking kills your happiness... When I am worried, I tend to overthink. I worry for things that may not happen...and all this negative thinking shows...unhappiness. So I'll just divert myself into something else like this unique plant of my sister-in-law. My first to notice it, she was out so I missed asking what's it's name. It looks like a 6 inches stump and at the top of it are these super tiny sprouting leaves. That kind of, look closely to appreciate its beauty and…
@marla
I am wishing that these are fresh blueberries. I am just missing fresh blueberries, you see... If these are fresh blueberries I'll be the first to pick these up and eat them, am not sharing, haha. Come on it's not much here😄 But of course, for many of you guys know what these berry-like bits are. Yes, they are the Lantana plant berries. Well, I'll just call them berries, now I'm wondering if they are edible🤔 They are actually like less than 5mm in size, so maybe that's…
@marla
This bush is called green fukien tea leaves. When I was growing up, this is the only tea that I knew. My mother boils these leaves for our morning tea. I have only known its name just lately with the help of google lens😊. Before, it was simply tea, good for the tummy. In fact, it is medicinal. Its leaves are used in the treatment of diarrhoea, colic, cough, etc. We have one bush in the backyard today, my sister thinks a bird have sown it. It brings back childhood memories,…
@marla
Uh, oh! My ultimate eyes sun protection is looking very tired and sad😔. It's gone to two pieces plus one (the screw). It's an essential piece particularly when I go out. This is my favorite so it is it or not wear any. I'm wondering whether I will try to fix it myself, ask one of my brothers to fix it or I'll just take it to the shop...🤔 I wish I can be a handy man, able to fix anything broken... I can for other broken things, but this one, all I know is to wear them and…
@marla
I've been inspired to post this when I read one noisemates post today about wood burning for warmth in a fireplace or camping. I can relate to his feelings while watching wood burning when my siblings, nephews and I, watched this huge driftwood (which my father used to plant his orchids and eventually taken over by my sister when he passed away) engulfed in flames. It took a while. We watched it like it was an interesting film/movie. We burnt it not for warmth though, but…
@marla
Time management... It's always nice to be able to manage our own time. Set priorities, be realistic, don't get other people to set it for us, because we know more what we can and cannot do. But it's okay to listen, weigh it down, who knows, they may have a good suggestion, it may be a good boost as well. What's important is, we don't stress ourselves too much that is beyond bearable... We are in control...we know what we can manage... Manage our time wisely that at the end…
@marla
I woke up today feeling like I didn't sleep the whole night. But I had to move on so I can start ticking the numerous things on my imaginary to-do list. And I'm happy that all have been ticked or marked done now😏. I stuffed myself with vitamins and supplements and a warm shower did the trick...🤗 SELF-CARE noun *the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during period of stress.😉 Let's take care of ourselves ❤❤❤…
@marla
No work today so my friend and I had a free time. Sometimes having free time is under our control. If so, then enjoy it and make the most out of it. The time we wasted happily is not a time wasted🤗 It is a time well spent.😊 It's the weekend, so I'm wishing you all, time of happiness. Have fun, enjoy your free time with family or friends or with pets or with yourself 🤗😉🙃. Cherish this precious time🌷🍀🌷☘🌷 #thoughts #myphoto #Photography
@marla
I have been watching this mama cat and her daughter one morning and I am going to make a dialogue based on their body language... ONE BEAUTIFUL, BREEZY MORNING STROLL For Mama Cat and Daughter... Daughter: Hey Mom, can we go for a stroll? (Rubbed her body to Mama Cat) Daughter: Let's go Mom! Daughter: Mom, I'm waiting. Are you coming or not? Mama Cat: Alright, I'm coming. ( Mama Cat rubbed her body to Daughter) Mama Cat: Let's go then... And they have gone for a stroll. And…
@marla
BANANA PUDDING I love baking with bananas. I baked cookies with bananas, banana bread/cake and 2months ago I made this banana pudding... Ingredients are: All-purpose flour, fresh milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract, bananas, oreo cookies plus vanilla wafers. I combined the first five ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and stirred until it turned smooth and silky. Put it aside. Sliced the bananas. Spread the cookies at the bottom of a glass tray and layered it…
@marla
UNBOXING Doing things via video conferencing is very convenient. I can wear un-ironed clothes, haha😂 and no one will notice😜😆😅. But when I need to go out, I am compelled to smoothen and uncrease my clothes. That is for self respect, respect for people and respect for the occassion. Since I haven't used the iron for a while, and I have been keeping this box of steamer for a while I thought, I can give it a go thinking that I won't need to put up the ironing board 🙃😁So I got…
@marla
PAN-GRILLED HARISSA BEEF SERVED WITH PAN-GRILLED MIXED VEGETABLES AND ROASTED POTATOES I mixed harissa paste with a bit of rose water and rubbed it on the rib-eye steaks. Before frying it on a griddle pan, I sprinkled freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground peppercorn generously. I rubbed the sliced vegetables with olive oil and sprinkled them with sea salt and ground pepper. Fried them on a griddle pan until charred and cooked. Dressed them with a mixture of balsamic…
@marla
This teeny weeny butterfly was hanging on to its dear life. It was windy afternoon and judging by its look she's not 100 percent well. She clung to the grass for a while and I was hopeful that after the breeze it managed to fly, found food and got better... This butterfly is super tiny like less than a centimeter. At first I thought it's a moth, but it's not. Its English name is Pale Grass Blue Butterfly. This is my first butterfly macro, probably the wind helped me a lot…
@marla
How are you doing today, noisemates? I hope all is well and doing good🤗🌷☘🌷🍀🌷 Have you heard somebody say, "I don't have the time?" Or have we at one point personally said these words? The truth is, we have the time if we make time.😉😊 Don't you agree with this?🤔 If we make time for something or somebody, we show the importance of that thing or that somebody in our life. Don't you think so, too?🤔 We show which is our priority to give our time to. We only have twenty four hours…
@marla
I've been listening to a podcast this morning and a gentleman and a lady were talking about kindness and its effect on us. IS KINDNESS GOOD FOR YOU?🌹🌹🌹 The gentleman asked the lady, "What act of kindness have you done lately? The lady answered, "Well, I gave my parents flowers over the weekend."💐💐💐 The gentleman asked again, "How did that make you feel? The lady answered, "I felt good because I know it made my parents happy".😊 Being kind to others makes us feel just as good…
@marla
FABULOUS JEWEL BUG/BEETLE This little shining jewel bug that I saw on the leaf of the tea bush is sparkling like gold against the light. I think it's got a social thing in her blood for she didn't mind me taking a photo shoot. For what reason is she gonna hide? With such beauty, better show what she have got.🥰 She really looks like a jewel, with a million dollar tag. But I didn't dare to hold it...because it might release this interesting chemical called stink😅 So I left it…
@marla
HOW HAVING NEPHEWS BE LIKE... 🤗 Of course it's not like having nieces... No Barbie dolls, no little princesses dress no little castles, no pink colors, etc. But with boys...it will be balls any size, hoops, wheels...and gaming stuffs just to name a few. So boys or girls I noticed, are just the same with the amount of stuffs they can have, just so they get entertained😄 I don't know what's with boys and wheels/cars though... My brother obviously like wheels, and so his boys!…
@marla
Looking for inspirations??? Look up the sky...😊 In life, inspiration can come from many different sources. One source is the sky... Today I was in and out the house. In the morning I looked up the sky, admired the pattern of the clouds, and took a photo. My walking time, I looked up, admired the soothing soft orangey color clouds, and took a photo. Before the sun disappeared my sister pointed to me the lavender sky, I took a photo. At the end of the day, I looked at my…
@marla
I was having lunch yesterday by myself. As a habit, I had my fruits first. After having the fruit, I looked down at the little white plate that I used to catch the watermelon seeds. I thought, what a messy monochrome I just made. Maybe I can make it look better, more pleasing to the eyes, haha. So since there was no noise and there was no one around, I am free to decide to play around with the seeds. And I am happy with the result.😊 I hope you like it, too.🤗 What is this?…
@marla
Hello friends...have you heard of this word, "EUSTRESS"? It is pronounced as "yoo-stres" like EU-rope. Yes, eustress is the opposite meaning of distress. "EU" is a Greek prefix which means good + stress = good stress🤗 Funny how most of the time when we hear or use the word stress, it always have a negative connotation. But in fact, stress can also be good not always bad. Eustress is the positive, good, beneficial stress. That positive feeling of excitement, satisfaction and…