A Heavenly Park in Batangas...The Marian Orchard

THE MARIAN ORCHARD

Located in Brgy. Malabanan, Balete, Batangas, the Marian Orchard is a 5-hectare Catholic-themed park/complex inspired by the religious shrines of Italy and other European countries.   The place was founded by Larry Katigbak who hails from a poor family in Quezon. Ka Larry studied and finished accountancy while working in a textile manufacturing factory and was able to have a great career selling encyclopedia which gave him wealth and  allowed him to travel overseas. Having received so much blessings in life, he initially built a plant sactuary for his love of plants.  Inspired by his travels abroad, later on the place became the Maria Orchard fueled by his fervent love of God and devotion to Mama Mary. His ultimate goal was to help the church bring Christ to the people and the people to Christ.

The Sacred Heart Tower... A replica of Brazil's Christ, the Redeemer statue found in the Sugarloaf Mountain in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro

The small chapel

 The Marian Orchard is a venue for reflection and meditation and a frequently visited site during Holy Week

 A tranquil and peaceful place for prayer and soul searching

 The Risen Christ

The crucifixion of Christ

 Padre Pio and the Station of the Cross behind it

 Jesus, The Healer

 Inside the small chapel

The Angel fountain surrounded by flowering plants and trees

 The Meditation Garden

 Apostle's Plaza leading to the Chapel of Our Lady of Mediatrix 

 "Pomarium Mariae" (Marian Orchard) Facade

 The Lord is my Shepherd garden

 St. Joseph

 The bricked road with beautiful flowers going to Our Lady of Mediatrix Chapel.  At the center of the road is a wishing well.

Our Lady of Mediatrix

To continuously care for the Marian Orchard, Larry was able to establish a partnership with First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities of Tanauan City, Batangas which gave way to the formation of the Marian Orchard Faith Association.  The group tasked to take care of the Marian Orchard facilities and amenities with the goal to make the Orchard profitable to support missionary works.

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Christ is Risen... Have a Wonderful Easter !

 May this Easter Sunday inspire you to new hope, happiness, prosperity and abundance, all received through God’s divine grace... HAVE A BLESSED HAPPY EASTER !

 This is our Project Easter Eggs hand-painted by myself and my step mom

The basket of easter eggs and goodies for the children 

Easter is a good time to enjoy all of your many meaningful blessings and 
a wonderful day to celebrate all Christ has done for us.

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 http://heavenlybaked-elvierose.blogspot.com

A Maleficent Halloween ! ...LBA Trick Or Treat 2015

A Maleficent Halloween !!!

It's another trick or treat event at our village, Laguna Bel-Air I last October 24, 2015 and this year, my step mom and I decided to do a Maleficent Theme.  

Maleficent Theme
The front center portion of our house with the maleficent inspired display

Maleficent
 A powerful fairy who lives in Moors, a magical forest realm bordering a corrupt human kingdom

Diaval

Diaval, Maleficent's closest advisor is actually a raven that transforms from bird to a man and back again at Maleficent's whim.  We have an owl at home and we just made use of it in replacement for a raven. Maleficent sends Diaval out on missions to collect information about Stefan and his kingdom. 

Princess Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty
Awakening from her enchanted sleep

Thistlewit

There are actually three pixies in the film but we only managed to make two (2) pixies due to time constraint.  The pixies are Knotgrass, Thistlewit and Flittle who went to the christening of Princess Aurora and grant her magical gifts. They took care of Aurora until her 16th birthday.

Flittle
 Flittle wished Princess Aurora that every day of her life would be filled with happiness

On the left side are the wicked witches

The Wicked Witches

 A scary man with bulging eyes

 Our Gate
"Enter If You Dare ! "

The White Lady

 The Last Section .... Soul Takers and Demon

The Soul Takers

 The Demon

The Haunted House Gate

The Face of  Death

 The Skull

Pumpkin and Skulls

 Chloe, one of our dogs is guarding the candies

 TRICK OR TREAT !
“Give me a treat or I'll play a trick on you”

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Detox Juice Recipe

A healthy juicing recipe that will nourish your body and get rid of toxins

1 Medium cucumber

2 Ribs celery

1 Slice lemon

1 Inch young ginger root

Cucumber

Cucumber is known as "superfood," one of the best foods for your body's overall health.  It is 95 percent water, keeping the body hydrated while helping the body eliminate toxin.

Celery

 Celery is nutritional powerhouse ~ loaded with potassium, folic acid, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and essential amino acids. It is rich in vitamin C, it lowers cholesterol, prevents cancer, manages pain from arthritis, helps weight loss attempts, detoxifies the body, reduces high blood pressure, and promotes overall health.

Ginger

Ginger is full of antioxidants that help to kick-start your metabolism and eliminate toxins. It's also one of nature's natural decongestants.

Lemon

 

Known for its therapeutic property, lemon helps to strengthen your immune system, cleanse your stomach, and it is considered a blood purifier. The health benefits of lemon include its use as a treatment of indigestion, constipation, throat infections, dental problems, and fever, internal bleeding, burns, rheumatism, respiratory disorders, obesity, cholera and high blood pressure, while it also benefits hair and skin care.

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A Blessed Happy Easter !

 Colorful Home-Made Easter Eggs

Resurrection Sunday popularly known as EASTER SUNDAY is the greatest feast in the Christian calendar.  It is the day of rejoicing that comes at the end of the forty (40) days of prayer, fasting and penance called Lent.  It is the celebration of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead which highlights God's enduring promise of a new and eternal life and salvation.

Yesterday,  my step mom and I prepared some easter eggs for the children in our neighborhood.  We enjoyed decorating the eggs and finished at around 1:30 AM.  We added some other treats for the children.

 Other treats for the children - chocolates and biscuits

 The Easter Eggs and goodies in beautiful laces and embroidered linens

Here are two of our dogs - Cupid and Twinkle.  Cupid  (left) seems to tell me the eggs are delicious.  See her tongue out.

We are guarding these easter eggs ! Don't Touch  !

On this day, we give thanks to Jesus Christ for giving his believers the greatest gift of all.  The gift of love, the gift of forgiveness and the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven.  May you and your family have a Happy Easter !

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Juicing For My Migraine

I have been suffering from migraine since college and it is excruciating and disabling for hours and even for days.  I have had migraine that last for three days and it is difficult especially when it strikes at work.  It is a persistent throbbing in the temples or forehead.  This type of headache cannot be terminated, it can only be relieved.  I take pain relievers like advil or dolfenal to ease the pain. When my migraine attacked, I experienced impaired vision, tearing of the eye on the side where the pain is,  numbness, nausea and vomiting.  Sometimes, I would see sparkling lights and spreading blind spots in my vision. I hate lights and noises as it makes it worst.

Right now,  I started juicing to control and hopefully get rid of this condition.   This is the migraine juicing recipe that I used : 

             *  2 Green Apples
             *  2 Carrots
             *  2 Ribs celery
             *  A thumb-size ginger root

Please visit my other blog :

http://heavenlybaked-elvierose.blogspot.com