Nothing could be worse than having even just one family member sick. Seeing your little one lying in bed, fighting the flu leaves you worried witless as you chew on chia seeds to pass the time.

As you most probably know, the quality of the air inside your home does greatly affect your family’s overall health. Making sure that the air you breathe indoors is not doing you more harm than good isn’t all that difficult.

Keep your home free from moisture and humidity. Avoid using construction materials which serve as a breeding ground for molds. Keep carpets away from damp spaces.

Remember that your home should be well-ventilated. It should have enough windows to allow the air to pass freely in and out the room.

Do what you can to ensure that your family- especially the kids- are breathing in quality indoor air. Your loved ones will greatly benefit from it.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend- at least Marilyn Monroe says. More than diamonds though, every mom deems it highly important to have a kitchen with all the essential tools needed to whip up a stellar meal for her loved ones. To make the job easier, here’s a brief rundown of those nifty gadgets which every working kitchen should have:

Ladle. Look for one which has a large “bowl” to make it easy when serving soups. A bent handle at the top allows you to hook the ladle on one side of the pot without any danger of it falling in.

Slotted spoon. Pick a sturdy spoon with a stainless steel handle that won’t get too hot.

Sieve. This will be your indispensable baking tool, as you will need to do a lot of flour sifting. You can get quality sieves at affordablesieves.com.

Measuring cups. You’ll need measuring cups for both dry and wet ingredients. 1-cup and 4-cup measuring tools will come in handy for your dry ingredients.

Chef’s knife. Choose an 8- to 9-inch blade with a thick bolster. This is the metal that goes from the handle to the edge of the blade and acts as a finger guard while you’re chopping. Be sure that the knife feels comfortable in your hand.

Have these tools handy, and you’ll be well on your way to cooking your way to your man’s heart.

A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. But what does a woman do if all her hunky hubby does all day is tinker with the Airtex electrical fuel pump of his car instead of help her out with house cleaning? Here, the lady takes up the cudgels and sets on the task of cleaning windows on her own. If you find yourself in that situation, don’t despair, as help is on the way.

Sadly, those wadded up sheets of newspaper never do the trick. All that rubbing just moves dirt around from one spot to another, applying static on the glass which later on attracts more dust and dirt.

All you need is a squeegee and a strip applicator with a long cloth head. This knocks out dirt without scratching the glass. Soak it up with lots of soapy water and wipe it over your glass windows. Use a squirt of dishwashing liquid mixed in a bucket of warm water as your cleaning solution. The less suds, the better.

Finish off by moving the squeegee over the soapy window in a reverse-S motion, starting at the top left. After each stroke, wipe the squeegee blade clean with a lint-free rag. You may use cloth diapers for this.

The hardest part is getting started, but if you think about it, as long as you have the right tools- and frame of mind- cleaning windows like a pro should be a breeze.

Of saving the environment and giving equal opportunities to local residents of Las Piñas via Green Social Enterprises

Meeting environment conservation advocates and organizations that deal with ecological waste management is not new to me. I met a number of them in the past when I was still part of a daily publication. So, when I received an invitation for a tour at the green social enterprises in Las Piñas and learned that we will be meeting its prime mover, I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet another goodhearted person who promotes environment preservation and livelihood to local residents of Las Piñas.

Before we met with Mrs. Cynthia Villar, the Managing Director of the Villar Foundation, which incidentally is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, I and about 20 bloggers initially toured different barangays to see for ourselves the foundation’s ongoing livelihood programs in the area.

Engineer Dexter Gonzales, of the Villar Foundation, introduced us to selected social enterprises of the foundation: twining and weaving nets from coconut husks, handloom weaving, house waste composting, vermin composting, producing hollow blocks from trash, and crafting baskets from water hyacinths.

The development of these livelihood projects was an offshoot of an endeavor to clean and revive the Las Pinas-Zapote River.

The husks not thrown on the river were left on the sidewalks and the city had to spend more to haul the garbage.

Trash collectors failed to collect sacks of coconut husk so they end up polluting the r iver, Engr. Dexter Gonzales told bloggers.

To address the growing problem with coconut husks that were left on the sidewalks, Mrs. Cynthia Villar initiated and met with experts from Bicol University for the Coco Coir technology.

Dr. Justino Arboleda, an agricultural engineer, designed the machinery to make the coco-net. Coco Coir Enterprise utilizes coconut husk and convert them into coco net.

Coconut halves are collected and sun-dried

Husks are placed inside decorticating machine.

Separates fiber for twining

Mom and daughter team help in twining the coconut fiber to create ropes

Each string measuring 11 meters cost P1.50. Each beneficiary family can earn P3,200 per week. More than 100 families benefit from the coco net production.

Twines are weaved in the loom to create nets.

You will notice that twines are not refined. But Engr. Gonzales said they could have bought machines to refine the rope if only they are after business.

Finished coco nets are used for slope protection and control soil erosion.

Fiber can also be used as mattress filler and briquette holder for plants. Coco nets are being used by Las Piñas City and private developers.

The foundation also produces these fine blankets as part of relief goods during natural disasters.

The handloom weaving which began seven years ago is helping at least 20 families. There are 17 machines found in 5 barangays that produces 800 blankets a month. Each worker earns P65 per finished blanket.

Earnings from coco coir enterprise are used to subsidize the salary of workers and materials used in the weaving center.

In a bid to reduce the volume of household waste the foundation teaches LP residents the value of house waste composting. Kitchen wastes are leftover food and fruit and vegetable peelings.

“If they know how to separate dry to wet waste, nothing will reek,” thus said Barangay Captain Roberto Villalon, of Barangay Elias Aldana.

A ‘bio-man’ collects segregated kitchen waste everyday.

Excess liquids are removed from the kitchen waste before they are transferred to the mixing plate. The coco dust or peat from the coco coir enterprise is mixed to the compressed garbage.

The refined mixture is poured to the composting machine (rotary composter) for processing.

The compost is air-dry before they are packed in desired pack sizes.

A total of 47 rotary composters are found in 20 barangays. Each rotary composter produces 1,000 kilos of organic fertilizer. At least 141 families benefit from the 10-year-old project.

Creepy crawlers irk me, but this one called African Night Crawlers (earthworms) could be an exception because they help plants grow healthy. (But still you can’t make me touch them).

They thrive from collected garden waste such as leaves, twigs, and plant trimmings.

Garden wastes are shredded and transferred into vermi-composting bed. After one week, the vermin compost is ready for harvest and packaging. Vermi compost is sold to organic farms for P30.00 per kilo. Eleven families benefit from this enterprise. Eleven vermicomposting centers are found in 11 barangays with a total of 5,500 kg monthly production.

Use of plastic sando bags is definitely a no-no in Las Piñas public markets, but the foundation can make something good out of plastics! They use them in the production of hollow blocks.

Workers collect shredded plastic materials (10 kilos) and mixed them with 10 sacks of sand and 1 bag of cement to come up with 75 hollow blocks or 150 paver blocks. Finished products are ready for construction use.

Brgy. Captain Villalon said hollow blocks are being used for barangay projects and not for commercial use.

Thirteen barangays benefit from the shredding and pulverizing machine and provides income to 27 families.

To instill the importance recycling and segregating to the people of Las Piñas, a monthly Barangay Recycling Day was initiated by Congressman Mark Villar in 2010. Junk yard owners and operators buy recyclables — newspapers and magazines, plastic bottles and empty cans from homeowners.

Liquid waste is converted into cooking gas.

This is one of the interesting parts of the tour as we were presented with different sizes of baskets and containers made from water hyacinths at the Las Piñas Arts and Crafts Center.

The women of Las Piñas weaved the dry water hyacinths stalks to create this beautiful work of art.
Water hyacinth was once tagged as aquatic pests as it clogs the river and serves as breeding ground for dengue mosquitoes, but for the men and women of Las Piñas, water hyacinth is a source of income. Las Piñas has four weaving centers to date.

Our last stop was at the Villar Residence where we are treated to a sumptuous lunch by their friendly staff. Mrs. Villar came in to join us. She is warm and accommodating. She eagerly entertains questions thrown her way.

She shared how successful their livelihood programs are and expresses her willingness to help the neighboring places.

I believed that the foundation is doing well in its effort to let people understand the proper way of disposing waste and the rewarding part of it is to let them know that they can make money out of segregated and recycled waste materials.

With the demand for online jobs ever increasing, it’s not surprising that in the next five years the information technology industry will top most on most promising jobs. Among the promising and flourishing jobs online are customer service representative, freelance writing, public relations jobs, graphic designing and virtual assistant. Blogging can be a good source of income, too, especially if you are selling online.

On top of this list, virtual assistant is quite popular among stay-at-home and work-at-home mothers, and they are making good money out of this sideline/full-time job. A virtual assistant facilitates video conferencing or meetings for their clients who are based overseas. She or he provides creative, technical and administrative support to online customers. There are several resources for home based jobs that fit your expertise.

Welcome to Goodies for Mommies Giveaway!

“Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends—but only one mother in the whole world.”

This giveaway is brought to you by

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The fabulous people in this giveaway would like to celebrate Mother’s Day by giving 5 lucky mommies some goodies.

Sponsored by: Mama Never Told Me ,WhatToExpect.com , How to Rock Your Baby, & Dryper’s Wee Wee Dry

Health and Beauty Diva and Best Vacation Places

There will be 5 package at stake. Each winner will get the following (prizes will be sent separately by the corresponsing sponsor)

• $20 in CASH or AMAZON GIFT CODE
• Mama Never Told Me books by Emily Van Do – Retail Value $9.95 each
• A Choice of What To Expect Books by Heidi Murkoff – Retail Value $ 8.97 – $19.11
• How to Rock Your Baby – $10.19
• Dryper’s Baby Shirts (For Philippine residents only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our laptop is invaded by ants. Hubby is dealing with the pesky creatures since they began building their colony at the back of our computer table and then find their way inside the laptop. They slowly eat up the keypad causing some keys to malfunction. Hubby can’t do anything to get rid of the ants permanently. I believe an effective pest control like the Pest control Palantine can solve our problem with ants. Spraying kerosene gas to the source can only debilitate the ants, they crawl back after awhile. Does anyone know an effective and cost-friendly pest control?

I miss playing puzzles with the kids. I miss the fun and laughter that filled the room when they put the pieces together in such a short time. We have enjoyed the smallest (about the size of a 3R picture or smaller) to the biggest puzzle (one-half  meter) we have at home.

We’ve tried to solve the difficult to the easiest (with picture patterns) puzzle. But the kids have outgrown playing with puzzles and shift their interests to other things. The puzzle pieces went missing and  the kids just forget about them.

Oh, I miss the sheer fun I get from playing simple games, including puzzle with my kids.

Playing puzzle boosts the creativity of kids and serves as brain work out to adults.

If you have little kids in the house, chances are cleaning up after their playtime might just be a tad tedious for you to take. That is why it is a must that you designate one single room or a specific part of the house for the children to play in. Making a playroom out of their bedrooms might just not be a good idea, it is best to reserve that portion of the house for resting, studying or sleeping only. Maybe you can convert one of your guestrooms to be a temporary play area and relocate all your children’s toys there, yes including those colorful 3d puzzles your youngest tend to leave just about anywhere. If not, you can always allow them to play in the living room or the den, just make sure to keep anything breakable out of their reach and provide a closet or a big box where they can stash all their toys away every time they are done playing, that way they can participate in cleaning up and you have one less mess to worry about!

Due to the busy schedules most people have, it isn’t unusual to find several pending projects in the home. While some jobs may be quite easy to get done, others can be more of a challenge. If you’re enrolled in a carpentry science program, fixing up your house is a great way to enhance your carpentry skills. In most cases, all you need for home repair jobs is a few basic materials and equipment. Below are some simple ways to fix up your home and achieve a new look:

• Painting – Applying a new coat of paint over peeling, dirty or fading paint is a great way to restore the appearance of various surfaces. Experiment with colors to achieve a fresh and new look inexpensively.
• Repairing Units – Sooner or later, cabinets, counters, doors, and other units show signs of wear and tear. Fortunately, all it takes to repair these surfaces is simple repair materials that are available in home improvement and hardware stores. Contact cement, epoxy, paint, and other agents come in handy for repairing burns, chips or peeling surfaces.
• Tiling – Tiles are one of the more affordable materials for flooring. If your present floor is showing signs of wear and tear, you may want to install tiles instead. The beauty of tiles is that you can install them as a do-it-yourself project and cut costs involved in hiring a professional. Tiles are also available in a virtually endless variety, which makes it easy to achieve your desired home décor.
• Wiring – Lighting or wiring work is often needed in many homes. Fortunately, electrician training isn’t required to improve on basic home lighting. You’ll find plenty of resources on the Internet to guide you in resolving basic electrical or wiring problems. Attending to these jobs yourself will also save you the cost of hiring an electrician.

Sources

HGTV (2012)

Don Vandervort’s Home Tips (2012)