Childhood Christmas Memories

A Riddle of Time

       What is it that lives only a year; all the world celebrates on its birth, and near the end of its life, people are exchanging gifts and singing joyful songs?

         
I caught the eyes of my lovely little girl sparkling with excitement and awe.  

Hannah Blaze just turned four last May.

It is her first time to see colorful lights and shiny balls in silver, gold, red and blue; displayed in plenty at the mall.  I watched Blaze as she ran from Christmas tree to Christmas tree.

Christmas carols filled the air, I said to myself, “I was just like her 40 years ago.” Oh, it seems just yesterday.  I just allowed her to enjoy.  Keeping my eyes on her, I begun to miss my childhood days.

    
Those happy days at Mindoro, just remain a sweet memory in me.  Every year, our elder brothers and sisters would come from Manila to spend Christmas and New Year at home.  We have new toys from ate Lucy who happened to work at INCON, a factory that makes toys. We have new shoes, clothes and plenty of food.  It was a yearly family reunion during Holiday Season.  Tatay Floro would do necessary repairs to make the house ready, and Nanay Daring would buy new curtains and table cloth as she used to do every year.  So, as it was almost two weeks of vacation, we had good time walking together in barrio roads and visiting homes of our relatives.  We play basketballs, go swimming at the nearby shore, or play scrabble at times, which Nanay Daring excels in vocabulary.  It was fun time at night when we cook suman and roast chicken.

         Life grows, life goes. Now, I have  my own family and a home that loves the Lord and love each other. To  Honeylyn, my sweet wife, and to me, The Lord gave four kids.  Christine Mae, Niel Jabez, Hannah Blaze here, is our third child, and Hesham Uriel.

       

One calendar will once again be taken away, and another will fill its place. How nice it is to see our children grow.  Thank God for these children that He adds to our life.

      







              

Facinated with Super Kalan

Motivation to Work

Nov. 11, 2012

       There was a successive price increase of LPG on the year 2010.  So I was encouraged to set up a forced-air charcoal stove in our kitchen.  I enjoyed it so much, thinking of the considerably bigger amount that I was able to cut from our budget. Seeing that there are variety of models of charcoal stove, being sold in the market, I begun to venture on improving my own design.  Until one day near the end of 2010, a friend mentioned to me about syngas.  I immediately look it up in the internet. Beginning then, I guess I have exhausted every available design of any kind of syngas production projects, ranging from simple one to highly scientific.   My line is here in the most simple biomass gasifier cook stove.  I had been surfing on the wood-gas camp presentations.  There are close to a hundred different designs of cook stove which are called microgasifier.   This bunch of microgasifiers has two major classifications, namely: Gasifier Stove and Rocket Stove.

             Syngas is produced from combustion in an oxygen starved environment.  It is actually carbon mono oxide, which is combustible. That is why Gasifier Stove is originally operated by natural convection.  Its makers are in resistance to the use of blower.  The invention of it fascinated many.  The type I like most is the Lucia Stove. Although, cooking with it has something that is inconvenient the part of the user.  It is using wood pellets or wood chips as fuel.  Rocket Stove came into existence as a product of continuing effort to eliminate hassles encountered in the operation of the Gasifier Stove. Rocket Stove may be coined quasi gasifier, yet it is competitive, because it uses cheaper fuel (preparation wise), and easier to manage when cooking.   

 

          This is my questions: If these stoves are really fine alternative and cheaper than LPG and electric stoves, why is it that not so many homes are using these?  I engaged my self, in almost two years of experimentations and observations.  I found many factors that makes these stoves unfriendly to the user.  I made adjustments.             
          
           finally I come up wih two-burner stove design.   I thank the Lord for challenges and enjoyment there is, while doing this project. 







                 

Improved Biomass Cookstove

Biomass Cook Stove

           Developing an improved biomass cookstove has a long history in our kitchen. I first started on putting an over-the-roof propeller, empowering the blower for the wood stove. That was on the year 2005.  Then I saw my friend bought a charcoal stove with a built in electric blower.  I was so fascinated with it, specially that it cost P3,500.00.  I immediately constructed one for our own kitchen.  I designed it different from what I saw.  Its blower assembly is 12 volts powered, and the stove is not fully dependent on blower because it operates even during brown outs, and it is much cheaper in construction cost. This design was in use in or kitchen for over two years, until I heard about syngas.  My first venture of construction was on November 26, 2010 and for over a year, I literally worked on designing a model that can be in the market as an alternative to LPG fuelled stoves.  Daily am working on developing a perfect one.  If I am not cutting thin cans, I may be sketching a design or searching in the WEB.  My question is: If syngas is really an alternative to LPG, or even replacement to it, why is it that it is seldom found in use in the kitchens? So my goal is to construct a form, and see it being widely use in the Pilipino kitchen and being sold in the markets.  For that so long a time, I am still in the process of observations and adjustments. I could see that a design will come out to realize my goal.

4Life Research, philippines

Last Saturday, I attended a seminar conducted by 4life, Philippines.  It was about Transfer Factor. I like the presentation that was given by Miss Irene Tan, the National chairman of the  company. The way I understood it is that transfer factor is a chemical activity in or body that keeps our immune system in its full potential.  I like it when she talked about the "first defense soldiers" against intruding bacterias, and also about  the "doctor" within us.  Transfer Factor  was there when mama breast fed the baby and  given the colostrum in the process.  Transfer Factor is even there from the beginning when God said  "Let there be light."

THESE WASTED BIOMASS CLUTTERS

           Today, I'm happy to see that my designed biomass stove is already in excellent performance after much adjustments had been made.  It is so designed to feed rough biomass: like dry leaves of any plant, saw dust, paper etc. Of course, regular fire wood is best fuel for this stove. It is top-lit, bottom-fed and can operate long hours of cooking.  More than a month ago, I gathered three sacks dry mahogany leaves from under the woods in our backyard. I brought it in the kitchen, for observation if it could be used as fuel.  I'm right!  It could be utilized for cooking our food.  It just gave out good flame.  And those three sacks of dry leaves were salvaged  from being spoiled in that non-agricultural soil. .I'm not so much concern on salvaging those wasted energy, but rather I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to spend so much on buying expensive kitchen fuels. 

Food All Arond Us

           In the beginning of time, the Creator filled the air, land and seas of things edible even before He created mankind. The Lord put the man in the garden to dress it and keep it.  Man's fall to sin though brought  curse to the ground.  But there in nature have much sustainance for man, yet he must have to work harder for it.  As part of the curse, the Lord said, "In  the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread.  .  ."   Livestock and agriculture were then developed in man's effort to make  food procurement in much easy way.  Continual or even occasional curse upon the ground and in the works of man's hand are sent from above as it had been warned  in the condition set forth: "blessing if you will obey, and curse if you will disobey."  The plan of  God is to intervene, and here is a glimpse of the future written in Micha  4:4, "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it.

Sustainance for Living

         Nature is home for life. In it we find provision, healing and leisure. In life, there are surprises, wonders and mysteries; and so also in nature.  Both have still dimensions that are yet unexplored.  Life simply depends on nature.  Nature is given for life.