"I'm going to make bibingka," I said on Christmas morning. "Do you know how to make bibingka?" asked the Husband.  The Husband forgot that I've baked this Filipino dessert a few times before. Of course it was easy for him to forget since the Mama liked to make this cake treat nearly every Christmas and for any day she deemed special.  I don't know if I'll carry on the Mama's annual holiday tradition. It simply felt good to have some kind of warm sweetness enveloping the house on Christmas morning. The tradition I will carry on is the Mama's like to experiment with recipes. I read a recipe for pumpkin mochi which I thought would translate quite well into pumpkin bibingka. Both recipes use sweet rice flour rather than wheat flour. Instead of condensed milk, I used a combination of coconut milk and lactose-free whole milk. I'd give you the recipe but I modified it as I was going and you know how that goes. The result turned out pr

Do you ever see faces in rocks? The alphabet in landscapes? Spaces that look like they could be portals into another dimension? Me too. Merry Xmas! Happy Holidays! Be Happy! I'm happily linking up with ABC Wednesday. Please click here to check out the other participants and/or to join in.  Thank you, ABCW Team !

By golly! Miss Molly, whatever are you doing? As always, Molly the Cat ignored my question. I watched her jump into the pot, sniff as she turned 360 degrees inside it, then climbed so daintily out of it. Molly the cat and I were doing our morning round of the front yard. I was curious to see how well the plants fared in this morning's frost. A few plants in the shade sported soft ice similar to what's in a shaved-ice cone. What was Molly curious about? I saw two dove feathers near the tree, which means that a neighborhood cat successfully caught himself a bird that morning. Molly may have picked up his scent. She looked to have lost it a few feet from the flower pots. Life is good that I can start my day like this. I'm linking up today with All Seasons , a meme hosted by Jesh at Artworks from Jeshstg. Click here to join or  to check out other participants.

I like the ss-sss sound that comes by saying narcissuses. If only you could smell the fragrance of these narcissuses.  Mmmmmmmmm. The Husband bought them for me at the farmers market in Santa Cruz yesterday. Yes, it was sweet of him.  What was most sweet of the Husband was that he held my hand as he helped me hobble across the street to the parking lot.  

The Husband and I wandered about the country roads yesterday afternoon for my birthday treat. Our first stop was at the small old church in Tres Pinos, California, population nearly 500. (These links will lead you to my posts about the church and town , if you're interested in know about them.) We happened to be in luck. The church doors were open.  I'm not a churchgoer, but I find comfort sitting inside this church every so often. Maybe it's because I was baptized there. As always, I enjoyed contemplating over the stained glass windows. They are eloquent in their simplicity. They are poetry. It's the letter W at ABC Wednesday. Click here to join in, or to check out other participants. Thank you, ABCW team!

So begins a new adventure around the sun for me. Here I gooooooooooooooooooooooooo. . .

Can knees cry? That's what I feel my right knee is doing right now. Plain out bawling its tears. If there is no longer any padding within our kneecap, does that mean the bones are grating against each other? I know the answer. It's what the doctors have been telling me lately,"You're rubbing bone against bone." Grate, grate, grate. Shudder. The specialist bone doctor, who I shall call Looking-Mighty-Tired, told me on Friday that knees like mine have four options for improvement. Medications, shots, physical therapy, and surgery.  Hahaha, Guess what? I achieved without trying. I went straight to the top of the class. Bingo! Surgery! Ouch. Slowly by slowly, since Friday, my brain is understanding the impact of my (without trying) achievement. Half an hour after the appointment, I had said to the Husband, "I wonder if this is outpatient surgery. I forgot to ask." Hahahahahaha. Right, silly me. To be continued.