Oh no! Not Another Hobby!

Last week was very stressful for me with my mom's accident and having to drive back and forth to the hospital which is 2 and a half hours away plus having company. But this week is a little bit more relaxing.

I decided to pursue jewelry making because it seems to relax me. I have taken an hour course during a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas last year and then I just almost forgot all about it. Last weekend, there was a show here and lots of jewelry making supplies were on sale so I bought a lot. I called my friend and she bought some too, and then we met at the house a few days ago to start creating.

I am linking with Susan for Met Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ to show you the outcome of that session.

And whenever I get together with friends, I always serve tea. So, I am linking with

Lady Katherine for Teatime Tuesday at http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/

Wanda Lee for Tuesday Teas for 2 and Wednesday Teatime in Blogland at http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/

Martha and Terri for Teacup Tuesday at http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

and Pam and Wanda Lee for Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday at http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/

I am also linking with Debbie for her A & B Party at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

First, let me show you my supplies.

I told you I bought a lot, lol.

And these were not enough. I bought more from Ebay but I am still waiting for them to arrive.

I got a lot of mineral stones such as different colors of jades, tourmaline, amethyst, turquoise, tiger eye, lapis lazuli, jasper, crystals and others I cannot recall what they are called. If I liked the color and texture and price, I would put them in my basket.





When AJ found out I was making jewelry while skyping her, she asked me to make one for her and her cousins too. We are all going on a cruise soon and she wanted all of them to wear the same bracelet. These are the bracelets I made for them. I thought the different color of crystals would be fun for them.


I really had a lot of fun creating the jewelry, especially because I can do it right in front of my computer while blogging in between. Oh, I just love multitasking!

I don't know what the pink stones are but the others shown below are amethyst with a Blue John pendant, tiger eye and crystals.


Here's a close up of the Blue John. Isn't it pretty? I think it should be called Purple John cause it's more purple than blue. John gave it to me as part of my anniversary present last year but I couldn't wear it since it was a loose stone. I added amethyst beads to it.

I think the green stones are jades and tourmalines and the orange are jaspers.

Yellow and green jades, tourmalines, more amethyst but I do not know what the square stones are.

John just gave me the jade pendant below as part of my anniversary present a few weeks ago. I made it into a necklace using yellow and green jades and I made a matching bracelet too. I hope you do not laugh at what I made. I have not tried making any fancy designs yet.

I did not have any chains (I ordered some from Ebay) and when they come, I will try to do fancier ones. Wish me luck, lol!

Just as I mentioned earlier, my friend Debjani and I had tea. I used a tea for 2 teapot. The tea cups say "Board Meeting" on them. I was going to give her a slice of cake but when I was about to cut it, I found out that John has been scraping off the icing, lol. So, we had chocloate candies instead.

Thanks to all our hostesses for all these fun parties.

I want to thank you all for coming for a visit. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Historical Natchez and Jewelry Making

We have a very close friend who knows a lot about Natchez and sad to say that he is moving to another state soon. He gave us a personalized tour of Natchez a few weeks ago.

Last week, I showed you the Forks of the Road, where the chains used for slaves still exist. I am not showing them again because my chest gets heavy reading about it.

But I am showing you the rest of historic Natchez today.

Before I do that, let me show you my pink contribution.

I have a new hobby, jewelry making. I joined an hour of jewelry making session when we were cruising on the Oasis of the Seas and learned the basics and just went from there. I am sure there is much more to be learned but I am actually able to create some. Last weekend, in addition to the Balloon Festival going on in town, there was a jewelry show at the convention center. They sold lots of jewelry supplies and I bought natural rocks, stones and crystals.

I picked the pink stones and supplies to show you today. I will show some finished products on Monday for Metamorphosis Monday.

Now, let's go sightseeing in Natchez. This is one of the restaurants we frequent downtown, Biscuits and Blues. Greg Iles, a NY best selling author who lives in town, often mentions their crawfish and mushroom topped beignets in his books. And they are super good! In fact, that's where we ate after the tour and both John and Clyde ordered that appetizer.



I love downtown Natchez. It is very quaint and charming and it has so many good restaurants and lots of antique shops. Parking is no problem.

Below is William Johnson's building. He is the famous Barber of Natchez. If you want to know about Natchez' history first hand, you should read "The Barber of Natchez". William Johnson was a slave who rose to freedom and became a successful businessman, first as a barber and then went into real estate and other businesses, owned his own slaves, all before 1850. He kept a 2000 page diary of his day to day life including the exact amounts of what he spent and all his business records. It is really very interesting and Natchez owes a lot to him. Because of what he recorded, Natchez became aware of its past history.

These are houses that are very typical of what you see around downtown. The background picture is a bluff full of kudzu, which is everywhere here too.

Magnolia Hall, one of the grand antebellum mansions downtown.

Sorry, I have to show you this tree but it is part of history. This tree in front of City Hall was the same one where outlaws were actually hung. Their loved ones stood on the ground tearfully hugging them as they hang down to their last breathe. I am glad that practice does not exist anymore.

Prentiss Hall: We always held physicians' Christmas parties here in the past but the building has just sold so I am not sure if we will continue having them here, but the building and all its furnishing are really exquisite and so beautiful. It is full of antiques.

This is a private home and I am sure the owner does not believe in "less is more", lol. AJ gets a kick out of this house everytime we see it and you will never miss it driving by towards the Mississippi River.

These are houses along the Mississippi River. Don't they just have the most breathtaking view?

A tour in Natchez is not complete without a ride to the Natchez cemetery. It's famous and it houses the famous "Turning Angel". Angels on the Bluff is also held every year where a reenactment of peoples' lives in the olden days as acted upon by the descendants of the ones buried there, in period costumes. We are going to see it for the first time next month after Halloween and we are meeting with Carol, a blogger from Hattiesburg. It is supposed to be a real good event, in fact, tickets are always sold out that is why we reserve early. People come from all over to experience it.

Have you read Greg Iles' latest novel, "The Devil's Punchbowl"? I asked our friend to take us there and so he did. It is just north of the cemetery. It was kinda spooky. The devil's punchbowl is a very deep semi circular pit and was said to be used as a hiding place by the river pirates. Some still believes that there are still some hidden treasures in there along with some skeletons and dead bodies but I am not going down there to find out.

Natchez' Little Theater.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of our historical town. Thanks a lot for joining me and thanks, Beverly for another Pink Saturday.

Anniversary Table

Today is a day when people in blogland start setting their table in a special way. Thanks to Susan of http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for giving dishaholics like me something exciting to do every single week. Be sure you visit her and her participants.

I had this table setting 2 weeks ago during our wedding anniversary. I did not have a chance to post it sooner because so much have been going on at home.

Anyway, I set a simple table for 2 using Biltmore For Your Home's fine china in Holland Platinum pattern


I just love the platinum medallion on the salad plates.

After you see my tablescape, I would really love for you to go down one more post to see my ancestral home. It has a very interesting history. Thanks.

I picked 3 roses from the garden and placed them in a black vase and added a hurricane candle holder for my centerpiece.

Vintage lace table cloth from an auction

crystal candle holders from TJ Maxx

I just wrapped the napkins with a red wooden rose.

I had the dinner set on the game table in the family room.

We had rice, stuffed chicken with crawfish and seafood gumbo.

Yum!

Thanks for your visit. It's always appreciated. Thanks Susan for hosting.

My Ancestral Home

Alex Maynardo Castro posted a blog about our ancestral home at

http://arcastro57.multiply.com/journal/item/120/Bale_Matua_THE_DE_LA_CRUZ-LIM_HOUSE?replies_read=27

which is what inspired me to do this post.

I hope you get a chance to visit him cause his post has more information and pictures of the house.

Alex is from our hometown, Mabalacat, Pampanga in the Philippines. I met him when he was just a little boy but I have not seen him again since. He wrote a book about our hometown and featured our ancestral home there. Her aunt married my uncle who is a younger brother of my father and who just passed away a few weeks ago. He was the longest and lone survivor of that generation for a while.

Pictured below is my grandfather. My father used to tell me that he would always ask his chauffeur to pick me up when my father would take me to the city because he always wanted me to be close to him. Unfortunately, he died when I was only 5 years old but I still remember him.

My grandfather with my dad and his siblings. Two aunts and an uncle are not in the picture. They must have come later. My father is the eldest and he is the one standing on the left.

My grandfather and grandmother...this picture is hanging above the sofa in the living room.

This family reunion was held on my grandmother's birthday in 1968 in the Philippines.

Of course, my grandfather was long gone then but my grandma lived in her 90's. Can you spot me? I was 18 years old then. My father is the first person sitting on the second row and my mom is standing behind my grandma. Behind her is one of my sisters and I am standing next to her (with long hair and bangs).

Below was taken during my mom's 86th birthday in our home in Florida in 2004. My dad passed away in 1996. Pictured are all my children, brothers and sisters, in laws, nieces and nephews and our grandkids. My mother has 15 great grandchildren now.

This is our ancestral home in the Philippines. My grandfather had it built in 1932. My grandfather was a prominent business man with sugar and rice plantations.

Originally, there was no tower but when my aunt got sick of lung problems, he had the tower added so my aunt can get some fresh air up there.

The roof came off and fell in one whole piece all the way down to a vacant land next to the house during a big earthquake in the 70's. It would be very hard to replace it so they just tore it into pieces. The tower stands roofless now as you can see on the right side of the mosaic.

My son stayed there for 6 months to take care of my mom when she had a stroke. Here he is posing in front of the house.

During the Japanese war, the Japanese took over the house and made it into their headquarters. They turned the basement into a prison. Do you see the tiny windows at the base of the house? They are covered with iron grills. I was always afraid to go down there cause it felt so eerie. Every All Saints Day, they light candles in the basement, for if not, it is said that they could hear moaning coming from down there.



My mom and I.

I used to go home a lot to visit my dad when he was ill but my last visit was in 1996 when he passed away.



The fountain in the garden. I was with my cousin, Hazel.

I remember hiding there when we played "Hide and Seek" with the maids whenever it was full moon because it would be bright at night and they would be done with their chores.

Here am I just relaxing in the living room. Behind me is my favorite aunt, Mating. Sad to say that she is gone too. They all are and I miss them a lot. The only surviving ones are their 2 spouses, my mom and an aunt, Mang Elsie. I lived in the house with my aunt and my grandma until I was 8. I went to school there until 4th grade and then joined my family in Manila to continue my studies in the city, but I went back to spend my summer vacations there. I was really close to both my aunt and grandma.

The wooden staircase on the right is leading to the tower.

We played mahjong a lot there. Here I am playing with my 2 sisters and brother while my aunt was watching happily.

When I was small, my aunt and I were sleeping in the tower and then it rained. My aunt carried me down the spiral staircase and she slipped. Luckily her legs were caught in the iron posts and we did not fall or we would have landed on the main house roof.



This is part of the tower, the lower level. I have a picture here when I was 4 or 5 but I cannot locate it. It must have been left in Florida.



On the very top, you can see Clark Air Base, Mt. Arayat and also mountains in Tarlac. I used to go up here with food and have a picnic with my friends. The breeze always felt so good.
We would also fly paper airplanes from there and mess up the driveway below.

A friend from the same town created this oil painting of the house and presented it to me as a gift.

As you can see, the house is very special to me. The painting holds a very special place in our home now, a focal point on top of the mantel in the formal living room.

I am linking with Rose for Nostalgia at http://www.meetourclan.com/

Laurie for a Few of my Favorites at
http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/

Shannon for Story Tellers Wednesday at http://asouthernbellewithnorthernroots.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for stopping by. This post is making me emotional again. I have so much memories in that house which is still standing strongly today and still belongs to the family. It is owned equally among 5 brothers and sisters who are all gone so it's been passed down to the next generation, us and my cousins.

Thanks Rose, Shannon and Laurie, for hosting.