Nothing too interesting...

Finally reached that stage in my life which I dreaded the most. But now realizing that it is not that bad or terrible. For sure, once I pass this stage I will be missing these days badly. Yes, I have discomfort, I have swellings, cramps, uneasiness, tiredness, and what not. But yet, I will surely miss those sometimes soft and sometimes turbulent movements in my tummy. Ha, how I love to see the movements outside!

I am almost nearing the completion of this stage. Yes, fear and worry does increase with each day. But it has to pass. There is no escape. So, taking it the way it comes.

I am now in Kerala from the past few days. Not liking the weather at all. It is hot and humid. I am not in my comfort zone. Dependent on somebody for anything and everything. My routine has changed. Yet there is something I love about this place and staying here. I will be here for a few months from now. Hope everything goes through fine.

I, no longer crochet, stitch, do gardening, or leave the house. I am always at home doing something or the other. But trust me, I am finding interesting things to do at home. Each day I wake up with an objective and very often am successful in achieving those. 

The only discomfort I have that bothers me now is that I am staying away from my husband. He will have to keep traveling over the weekends for some time from now.

Otherwise, everything, so far so good. Will keep you all posted!

Continuation

A continued updated on our Mittu's story. Though it has been a few weeks since the incident occurred, till date, people call up and enquire about him. How kind! Yes, I would like to write about all the kindness that people showed on my parents during the 3 days when we thought we'd lost him.

My parents spoke to over a 100 strangers within the two days when articles about Mittu came in the newspaper. Initially we thought that the news appeared only in the district edition but it seems that it appeared in other city editions as well. So the coverage was more! People from different parts of South India itself called up and enquired about Mittu. 

Now the interesting part - what did all these people enquire and speak about:

- Some wanted to know how we could keep a pet bird for so long without it being caged. How come it did not go away earlier.
- Many were amazed about the fact that my parents loved their pet bird so much that they went ahead and gave the news in the local cable TV and district newspaper office. They were not convinced that people could love animals to such an extent.
- There were a lot of other callers who shared empathy. They talked about their pets and how some had gone missing and never to be found. 
- Many called up just out of curiosity to know more about our Mittu and his habits.
- Interestingly there were a bunch of people who offered prayers for Mittu's safe return. This was really heart touching. 
- Lot of people from the nearby places called up asking our address so that they could come and visit Mittu. My parents have been invited to many homes as well :-D
- There were follow-up calls by many to enquire if Mittu is doing fine.
- And there were some kids also who called up wanting to hear Mittu speak. 

And so goes the list. As we are currently far away from home and we had to keep calling our parents for updates. Though we did not get a direct experience of the incident, we could make out how deeply touched our parents were by the acts of kindness and genuine interest of all the people who cared to enquire.

Even I was amazed to know that in today's world when we have no time for ourselves, there are still a lot of people who are kind, find joy in the simple pleasures of life, and care about others.

Pet Update

Most of you know that I (rather my parents) have a pet parrot, Mittu. He has been with us for over 10 years now and is just a member of the family. People close to us know how he is more like a younger one in the family rather than just a pet. He has his routines, favorites, mood swings, and all characteristics just like a human being. And I appreciate the way my parents look after him. He is never caged against his wish. The cage is always left open. He goes in only when he wants to take a nap peacefully. There are ropes tied from his cage to different directions - one leading to a tree, which is very much his own. So as and when he pleases, he chooses the directions and seats himself comfortably wherever required.

But two weeks back, an incident happened. As every morning, after his sip of tea, he was sitting on the rope and checking his feathers when he heard quick sound. As usual, as a reflex, he flapped his wings and flew. My mom kept watching the direction in which he flew. He flew very low and towards the road. My dad rushed to the road (which would have taken him a minute) and by then he was not there. A kid in the neighborhood informed dad that a passerby caught him, got into an autorickshaw and went away. My parents were devastated. My dad tried searching the nearby places in vain. Mom was also tensed. And we also got to know of the incident when we called up.

To most, it just seems trifle - a pet going missing. But for us, it seemed too much more than that. My parents were the worst hit. Every moment they kept hoping that they would get him back. An advertisement was given in the local television channel also. A day passed by and there was no news of him. Then my dad decided something - to give an advertisement in the district edition of the newspaper. He approached the district news office and detailed the incidents. The reporter took an interest in the news and promised my dad that he would do a small write-up.

Next morning, from 5 am, people from different parts of the district started calling up at home inquiring about our parrot. And finally around 8 am, Dad got the much awaited call. A family, staying almost 20 kilometers from our house had got him. They were travelling by our route, found him, and took him. It was the-moment-of-relief. By noon, Mittu was home. :-)

It was a happy ending to the story. But the calls continued. People kept calling all-day long. Some shared their experiences of having lost pets, some were quite amused that pets can be loved so much, and some were just curious as to the news got any response. The reporter from the newspaper called up and dad informed him that they got him back indeed.

And next day, there comes a follow-up article in the newspaper that Mittu has come back. Actually he did his bit of the job by making the article more graphic and adding some perky lines :-) This day the calls were even more. People kept calling and calling. We were actually surprised as to how many people were interested in a lost pet and the emotions involved. Many were actually happy to know that Mittu was back. And some are still doing follow-up calls to know if Mittu is doing fine :-)

It was one of a kind of experience for us. Our parents experienced it direct and thanked all the people who called to inquire. I was equally amazed at how there are still people who care for others' sorrows and loses. Humanity still prevails!

Following are the news articles.

Trying...

Being a little unhealthy for a while, a trip down to Kerala for a week, again a week of unhealthiness, and a short period of being lazy - all these kept me AGAIN away from the blogosphere.

I am still recovering from what I have of the left over cough, trying to be active and pleasant always, and trying to keep up with the quickness of time!

Getting Back on Track

A month since I even saw my blog... Weird... I know. But yes, there were a lot of things happening around me. We shifted from our old lovely house to the new one. Though I am not so much in love with the house and surroundings as I liked the old one, I am getting adjusted. The silver lining that keeps me going is that we'll be moving out from this place soon :-) Yes, I know, one more shifting. So it took us quite some weeks to bring things to order at the new place. Now travelling to office takes a while longer for me. So in the evenings, we get very less time to do things at home. And over the last one week, work took away most of my time. There was a lot to get done in a short span. And finally that is almost done now and I am almost getting back to normalcy [;-)] now. My health also had not been the best, which again kept tiring me out. 

Now everything seems to have fallen on track. My weekdays start very early these days as I have to be at the bus stop a lot earlier than before. And I reach home almost an hour later than I used to. But one good part about moving to this place is that hubby's office, which earlier used to be 25kms away is now just within 10 kms and he reaches much earlier than before. 

So I may start blogging as usual going forward. See you :-)

Shifting

Shifting from a house is, according to me, a very tiring and painstaking task. Reason, once you have decided to move, there are a lot of tasks involved. Changing postal addresses, getting TV, Internet connections, newspaper, and the like disconnected or discontinued. Sort out all the things you plan to take with you and keep the rest apart. Out of the unwanted stuff, again sort which has to be thrown in the trash and that which can be sold off or given to someone else. Get boxes to pack your stuff (in all required dimensions). Then slowly start packing your things. But be sure to keep your essentials out till you pack. This usually goes wrong with me. I would pack something thinking that it is not required till I move, but that proves wrong. I may have to open the packet again or buy a new one. So one solution is to not seal your boxes till the last date. Just close them and keep it around so that you can dig in and find something if it is urgent. Pack the not much used vessels in the kitchen. Pack all your decorative items in the living room and those lying around else where. And so the tasks go on and on.


The reason I am saying this (you might have already guessed) is because we are shifting AGAIN! It was a quick decision based on some situations. We finalized on the locality to which we wanted to move and for weeks kept searching online as well as roaming around there searching for a house suiting our requirements. Finally we found one (though there were some complexities involved). We decided everything and had a word with the owner and yes, we are planning to move over this weekend, if everything goes as planned. It is a newly constructed apartment and so yes, I am saved from that dreaded task of cleaning up the old tenants' mess. Unlike the house we are in now, we may not have a private terrace and lots of plants. I will definitely miss that. But the new place is airy and bright. I like that. And before marriage, I was living in this same locality. So everything looks fine.


The house we are in now is in a bad shape now owing to all the boxes around, stuff piled up here and there, and there is a lot of chaos. I am having a tough time deciding on what to pack, what not to pack, what to throw, and so on. Throwing away things is a great pain for me. I cling on to things emotionally. So overcoming that is the toughest part. Then we have a few things to be given away which we are still finalizing on. Hubby does help a lot in the packing and moves around all the heavy things :-)


And saying about the current house we are in now, it has been one of the best places we were in yet. The house was spacious and great. The locality was nice. We loved the balcony, terrace, and my plants. I loved the stairs in the house. Some of the best things of our life happened when at this house. And it never seemed to be small when we had friends and family visiting. Once we had around 10 people staying in the house. Yet there was enough room and everything was in order. We really loved this house. But priorities in life change, and we have to move on! :-)


So you might understand our plight now. And once we shift, again it takes almost a month or so's time to settle down in that place. I am just hoping that time passes quickly till that phase and everything should be smooth.


See you all....

Rains

The weather here in Bangalore has become a little pleasant over the last few weeks. Though it is hot in the afternoons, we are experiencing evening showers. Even yesterday, it rained very heavily for almost half an hour when I was at office. It was lovely. Literally nothing outside could be seen properly. Everything looked foggy. And the best part, nights are cool now. 


I usually like the rains, but like all selfish people I don't prefer to be held up in the rain or don't like any of my activities getting delayed owing to rains. Last week I had such an experience. Usually I always make it a point to carry my umbrella when the rainy season starts. I also made a few futile attempts to find my umbrella which I was not using for a very long time now. One evening, on my way home, when I was in the bus itself I noticed that the clouds were getting darker. As I was nearing my stop, big drops started falling. But I did not care a bit, as my home is just a 3 minutes walk from the road. While I thought of these things, in a matter of seconds, it started to rain heavily. It was raining so heavily that the drops falling felt like pin pricks and I was almost drenched by the time I crossed the road and ran to the shelter of the shop by the road. 


It was way too windy also. Everybody started taking shelter and even people with umbrellas did not dare to go out in that rough weather. After almost 30 minutes, it calmed down a bit. By then people with umbrellas and who had their own vehicles started heading home. It was still raining heavily and I could not run home. I decided to wait for another some time. During this time, I envied all those people who had umbrellas, who had their own vehicles, and those who had their dads, husbands, or siblings who came to pick them. The feeling was horrible. I waited for another 15 minutes and then made a decision - to run home. If I were to stay there I would have stayed there even longer. So I got out in the rain and almost ran till home, occasionally halting under the big trees for a moment or so. 


Once I was home and changed into a fresh dress, I loved the rain all over again. It was a cool and even nicer with a hot drink watching the rains.

Doodle - Check it out!

I like most of the google doodles and I loved the one for today. It is for Gideon Sundback, associated with the work on the zipper. Just head over to Google and check it out.


Just to give you a sneak peek, the page looks like this. You can use your mouse to drag open the zipper. :-)

And even if you are a day late, you can check it out at the Google doodles museum.

Over the past couple of weeks

Its been a long while now. Not that my life is not sweet anymore. It is just busy! My job keeps me busy during the day and once home cooking and other things keep me even busier. Phew, I just wait to get the chores done and lie down on the bed. Crafting also is slow. Gardening involves only watering the plants now. I have not been planting anything new. Reason - we will be going out of town for a week. I have made a temporary arrangement to get my plants watered for a few days. So didn't want to plant anything new during this phase.

And when I say out of town, it obviously means going down to Kerala. Its been some time now that we visited our families. So we are just eagerly waiting for it to be the weekend and hoping that the next week goes sloooowly. Though we know that what awaits us there is the hot humid climate, lots of travels, and tiredness. But still we love all those when in Kerala :-)

Here, over the past few weeks we had been doing some shopping. Yarn shopping topped the list. I did purchase two bagfulls of yarn while I went to Commercial and Raja Market. Next on our list was baby girl dresses for my husband's brother's kid. We often get exhausted shopping for her because all baby dresses are cute and we have a tough time deciding the best ones. On one of my ventures to the Commercial street I found some cute aprons which I readily picked up. They looked like the Cath Kidson aprons and there were a lot with floral prints and pleasant colors. Some baking supplies also came along - cute measuring spoons and silicon cup cake moulds and oven spreads. Those would have to wait until I am back to be used though. Then I did a little bit of fabric shopping as well. Well, I have improved a bit on my sewing front. I have been successful in stitches a couple of kurtis for myself and now hubby agrees for fabric shopping also without a change in expression ;-) I don't remember what else we shopped for. I just know that my travel bag is almost full now. Need to dump in our clothes more, and we are good to go.

The next few days will be even more hectic for me. Finishing off all the perishables in the kitchen, shifting the pots to a shady location, cleaning the house, making a list of essential things to do before going, paying off the bills for the month, doing the last bit of shopping, laundering, folding, ... phew!

Lemons Drizzle

Ever since I saw Lucy's Lemon drizzle cake, I had the urge to make one. I was not very sure of how it would turn out but decided that I should try it. I did substitute a few items due to unavailability. I had bought a new whisk recently and took this opportunity to try it out.

As the baking progressed the house was filled with a sweet fragrance of the lime. I just loved it. And I made the drizzle also. Oh! Loved how the cake was glistening.

Once it was cooled, I couldn't wait any further to taste it. I took a slice. It was heavenly! Usually when I bake, I throw in more ingredients. But this recipe was so simple and very less ingredients. And yet I think it was the tastiest I made.

Time for some pictures now.

Next time, I may use some cream and toppings! :-)

Beginning to get Greener

There is a lot of sprouting activity happening in the pots on my terrace and in the kitchen. Each day I see tomato sprouts, tendrils on the green pea shoots, chillies foilage, lovely red leaves on the red spinach, and many more eyes and buds on the stem cuttings. I literally love to see the buds and sprouts. It makes my heart jump with joy.

Yesterday hubby and me transplanted tomato and chilly seedlings into their originally intended pots.

What I hate and love both about gardening is my hands getting dirty. I am not using any gloves (I may have to start using though) and initially don't like messing up my fingers in the sand. But once I start the digging and raking and my hands are dirty, I end up playing in the sand like a kid only to realize how dry my hands become later.

I intend to transplant the red spinach seedlings next week. Taking pictures are really difficult these days. By the time I reach home, it almost starts getting dark and so am not able to click pictures that do full justice to the beauty of the leaves and shoots.

Dried to Green

My plants have been in a pity state for a quite some time now. There were many evenings when I was so busy to go up to the terrace and water them and many a days I completely forgot owing to the other jobs I had at hand. And to top all these, we had to travel for a couple of days on short notice without being able to make arrangements to water the plants. Result,



Yes, all my plants dried. One or two which were strong enough to survive, I gave them ample of time to wither.

Now my terrace has just a lot of pots with soil and no greens.

So what am I doing now? I am replanting. I started on with taking the soil out of the pots, aerating them properly, and filling it back. There are 26 pots - small, medium, and large. Till date, I have been able to refill only 9 pots. It takes a lot of time for this task as the soil has kind of got set in the pots. So before I start on the raking, I have to water the pots, wait for some time and then start off. Once half way through the pot is raked out, I can tilt out the rest of the soil. This is easier in the smaller and medium sized pots. But doing it alone for the big pots is very difficult owing to the weight. I left out those pots for a day when hubby is at home. Currently, each day, after office hours, I get around 30 minutes at home, before it gets dark. In this time, I am able to complete the refilling process for three pots.

So in the 9 pots I have refilled, I have started sowing seeds and putting cuttings. Indoors also I have started sowing seeds so that they sprout quickly and don't get dried up in the hot sun these days.



Well, lot of work is still left to be done to make my garden healthy, green, and lively again!

End and Beginning

Finally said goodbye to 2011 and started on with 2012. Everything seems normal and okay till now. I haven't taken any new year resolutions as I know resolutions never work out for me. Just taking life in the pace it is coming to me.

As usual there was the annual company shut down for a week. So got a few days off and went down to Kerala. As always, it was hectic - travelling. And the days went past so quickly that within no time it was time to board the bus back to Bangalore. For a few days, my co-sister and kid came and stayed with us. It was joyful when they were here. The kid is just a year old and now learning to speak and walk. It is hilarious when she tries to speak - alien words and phrases. But her expressions are cute. Walking is another nice part. I love to see the way she falters when she tries to walk without help. And even better is to watch her yawning when waking from a deep sleep. So cute!

On the day of New Year, they went back to Kerala. We were back to being the two souls in the big house, lonely! Going back to office seemed very painful after the vacation. Now we are falling back on track and hoping for the best in this new year!

Hope you all had a wonderful time!