Stanhopea hernandez

the botanic garden's ylipuutarhuri gave our group a tour around the garden today. it was very interesting to see the old landscape, know the history of the buildings and it feels good to just walk around the garden on a rainy day.

our first stop was the greenhouse. ylipuutarhuri showed to us the old fireplace which they used in the good old days to warm the greenhouse. but what caught our eyes was the orchid hanging by the wall with blooming flowers beneath its healthy leaves.

 the newest star of the greenhouse,

Stanhopea hernandez

our last stop was at the aisti puutarha. this is one place in the garden that i haven't been to a lot, so i was amazed to see all the plants there.

 the edibles

 the greenhouse, a view from the aisti puutarha

the giant sunflower

🌻

what a lovely way to end the week!

have a nice weekend! 

back to the garden

on monday, i went back to my training at the botanic gardens after being away for 7 weeks. there were new flowers in bloom , plants that have grown taller than me, some peonies that i didn't see bloom, new and same friendly people at work. it was nice to be back. i'm just a little stressed about my paperworks because i have been very lazy to do them during the summer break. so now, it's "aja!" time 😂

 foggy early morning walk to the train station

my playground

🌸

dalaw

i always love going to new places and most of the time, i fall in love with them. 

last weekend, the captain and i visited my sister and we spent the weekend in the beautiful village of Abcoudje. we drove to the village just when the sun was signing out. the moment we parked by the river bank, my heart was filled with awesomeness. it got me right away! if i will be able to choose to live somewhere, i'll choose to live there. 

the people in this village are so friendly that we received greetings from everyone that we passed by while walking around.

i am so happy that i was able to spend quality time with my sister. we had the whole saturday just for ourselves and we decided to wander the city of Amsterdam. the city was packed with locals and tourists, but it wasn't chaotic at all. it was like a harmonic commune of humanity.

after we had brunch in a homey cafe, we started our search for "the bench" where they shot one scene from "the fault in our stars". we followed the steps where google maps directed us to. many times we got out of the way, then went back where we came from then moved forward again. it was fun! it's true what they say that, "it's the journey and not the destination that counts" (or something like that 😁). by getting lost, we were able to see more of the city and loved the undimensional structures of the apartment buildings. they were lovely!

on sunday, we went to Zandvoort with the captain to see the dtm race. it was a lovely sunny day spent at the track with the loves of my life 😘

until the next dora adventure 😋

ang bilis!

it's been half a month after my operation and on monday i'm going back to my training. 

i'm half-hearted right now about this field that i chose. i guess, being away from the garden for a long time has a lot to do with it. my interest drifted away and now i feel like i want to do other things. also, i'm not so sure if i'm well enough to work. i feel better, of course, but doing heavy work....hmmmm...i might not be ready for it yet.

ang bilis ng time! i will miss waking up late in the morning 😇

madaling araw

the harbour is such a beauty at night

makulay

i finally found my coloring book! so today, i was happier sitting on the sofa with my colored pencils 😀

who said being on a sick leave is boring?

🍭

independent na si inday

i woke up in a better mood today. my stiches weren't so painful, and i found that i could walk a little bit faster than yesterday. that means i'm healing little by little. that must be the wolverine in me! hahaha!!! super powers!

so, to start my day, i made myself a bowl of porridge and blueberry-strawberry-redcurrant smoothie. 

my healthy breakfast (and my pain killers and 

the little prince in the background)

i walked around the house until my back ached then settled myself on the sofa and watched the travel channel (which made me think that i should travel to Alaska someday. and i also want to live in a tree house 😏). 

i really really want to have a walk outside, but the weather isn't that appropriate at all, so i'm just enjoying this scene from the living room window...

plus i gathered my yarns around me, so i'll surely survive this day 😹

in sickness and in health,

my dear yarns,

'til death do us part 

(naks! drama!)

🐵

my hospital experience

it has been three days since i was discharged from the hospital and i'm already feeling tired of just laying in bed most of the time. of course, i try to follow what my doctor said, that, i should walk around the house. i've been doing that and yesterday evening i was even out in the garden to breath some fresh air, admire the flowers and i thought that the blackberries are ready to be picked up na...but that needs to wait until i'm okay.

i'm not a big fan of hospitals. i've never been so sick in my entire life that i needed to be confined in one, but due to personal reasons, i've agreed to go through this one. 

my hospital journey started last autumn and it wasn't until spring this year that my ob found out that i have a 4.5 cm myoma that needs to be taken out. when i heard that from my doctor, i had a flash of scenes of what's going to happen that it mometarily paralyzed me. it didn't even comfort me when the doctor said that it's usual for women of my age and it's not going to be a major operation. i have been very worried since then.

in late spring, my doctor called that they have a schedule for my operation by the end of may. i declined because i was just starting with my work practice then and honestly, i was so scared.

when the doctor called again in the middle of summer, she talked to my husband, then we talked it over and i finally decided to go through it. i was scheduled for the operation on august 3rd. a week before that, i went to a couple of laboratory tests and a day before the operation, i went through some more lab tests and an interview with the doctor. 

Operation day

i was up at 6am, took a shower, packed my small bag and we drove to the hospital. my call time was at 7am. we waited at the receiving area of the ward until a nurse came around 8 and she led us to my room. she gave me the hospital costume that i had to wear and asked us to wait there in the room. at that time, i was already very hungry because i haven't eaten or drank anything since 12 midnight, as instructed by the doctor. i was sleepy, too. so i was dozing on and off while watching "the mummy" ( a great movie choice, by the way, before an operation 😁 ) around 10 am, the nurse came back to give me some medicine to take and a pair of stockings to wear (so stylish!)

at 12:15 the captain kissed me and the nurse wheeled me into the operating room. my first impression was like, "wow! this is like a theater or a tv studio with all the spotlights! no wonder they made me wear stockings! 😂" kidding aside, i didn't actually dare to wander my gaze anywhere else in the room because i didn't want to see things that i didn't want to see.

all i can remember before they put me to sleep was one nurse took my bp, another one inserted a needle in my arm then another person injected something in my hands that felt so painful. i still remembered saying "that hurts" then someone put the oxygen mask on my face and i went to sleep.

i woke up in a room without spotlights. it was quite noisy. i still felt sleepy. someone asked, "do you feel any pain? do you feel nauseous?" i tried to say no but my throat was so dry that i couldn't even make a sound. then i fell asleep again, when i opened my eyes they asked me the same questions. i don't know how many times i dozed on and off in that room before they wheeled me back to my room. 

then the captain came and held my hand while i came in and out of sleep. oh, and i finally had my first meal after 19 hours of fasting! i had berry soup and joghurt. delicioso!!!

jukka left around 9pm and i just went to sleep and the nurse woke me up every 2 hours to pee. that part was a struggle because i felt that i needed to pee but couldn't. at 5am when the nurse woke me up again, she did what parents do to their kids when they are toilet-training them. she made that "psssss...ppssss" sound and it worked!!! the nurse was happier than me 😀

at 8am, jukka came and i had breakfast and took medicine for the pain. my doctor came and gave me an update about the operation and the things that i should do for fast recovery. while the doctor was talking to jukka outside the room, i changed clothes and by 10am i said goodbye to the nurses in my ward.

now i'm just waiting to heal completely so i can pick up berries na! 😋