Since October 2023, we’ve been settled at home in Dauin with our daughter Jenny, her husband Gary, their son Emerson, and our granddaughter Fritzie, who attends college in Dumaguete.

This small studio, which was once the gardener’s accommodation, is currently our home. It is due to be extended this month with more space for us.

Gerlinda has brought her love for flowers and plants with her, though most of her collection remains at our old home in Cagayan de Oro. Here in Dauin, she is gradually expanding the assortment through propagation and new purchases, with plenty of space available for even more.

So long as there is the amihan blowing from northeast, some of the flowers can occupy the dive section, but once the dive season starts, the divers want their space back. Even the place for preparing the barbeques is occoupied by some young plants who needs shelter from the winds.

While larger ones now adorn the extended veranda. A towering tree, preserved when the property wall was built, serves as a makeshift planter for some plants nestled in old car tires filled with soil.

However, our house dogs have made it clear that they prefer their territory flowerbed-free, leading to a few unplanned rearrangements.

Yes, most visitors come from the other side through the gate. For visitiors coming by boat there is a mooring prepared for their entrance from the sea.

Many expats I know are building their dream home in the Philippines. They often build large living rooms. After a while, they say they have built too big. If they were to build again, they would rather build a bigger veranda.

Since you are in the tropics, it is warm most of the time in most places. Don’t laugh, you Central Europeans, when it cools down to 25 °C or less in the evening and at night, it often feels more like a chill.

We are now staying with our daughter’s family in Dauin, Negros Oriental, right on the famous beach with its diving spots. A new veranda had to be built as the old one was made of tree trunks and bamboo. Despite precautions, the small termites had nibbled on these trunks a lot over the years. One quiet morning you could even hear them. They were constantly busy.

The new veranda was adapted to the size of the house with concrete pillars and built in a Mediterranean style. As you can see in the following pictures, there are several seating areas, an artist’s corner and a large table in the middle where you can work or play cards at the same time. My wife has given everything a lively look with her flowers and plants.

This is also the place for family celebrations.

Once again we made the journey from Cagayan de Oro to our daughter Jenny’s family.

Left behind are our dogs, cats and most of the flowers and decorative plants. However, a large number of cuttings went on the journey well packed in a large suitcase.

.

Fortunately, no one at the security check at the harbour noticed the plants in the suitcase or looked over them.

The basin for the diving equipment was quickly converted into a watering place for the plants.

These now all have to be planted and cared for one after the other before they can take their place on the new veranda or elsewhere on the property.

.

I have settled down on the veranda with my laptop with interesting views and can do my work there in peace.

It is a tranquil life in Dauin.

Marc, the tattoo artist and good friend, came again on a Sunday, to give lola Gerlinda her first tattoo.

The day began with Lola Gerlinda having been led to believe for days that nothing grand on the festive side would happen on her 68th birthday. However, some good spirits were working in the background for Jenny to make something happen after all.

That day, the group of big boys who had gone on a 2-day tour of the southern part of Negros by motorbike returned early in the afternoon.

Around 4:30 pm the ordered food should arrive and guests should start arriving at 5 pm. For this, I, Lolo Dieter, had to lure Gerlinda out of the house. Jenny sent us to buy fruit at the fruit market in the neighbouring village of Bacong. From there we drove to our good friends Hermann and Engen. There I was to delay departure until I had received an OK to return.

Back home, I had to hurry to get to the veranda before Gerlinda so that I could capture the astonished face on film. Then, when everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’, Gerlinda’s eyes got moist.

You can watch everything else in the video here

Lola GERLINDA’S 68th BIRTHDAY in Dauin