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!

Onam

Again another Onam! Time just flies off quickly.

Last year, we celebrated the first Onam after marriage. It was a hectic Onam. After marriage everything changes. One such change is in the way Onam is celebrated. When you are single, you have all the leisure to celebrate Onam with your parents or friends. But once married, the tradition is different - ThiruOnam is celebrated at the husband's place. And the day after, at the parent's place. So last year, we were here one day, there next day, and again here the third day. The only concern is not being able to relax well after a festival.

But this year things are different. My parents are here. And we do not have so many Leaves to travel to Kerala as well. So Onam is in Bangalore itself. And no travelling here and there. So, tomorrow we celebrate Onam in its full grandeur. And to add to it, my in-laws are coming down on Sunday. So this year, we are celebrating an extended Onam, which is actually nice. And the best part - celebrate all the days at the same house with your dear ones around, without having to travel lots and can relax well :-)

Tomorrow, both myself and hubby are taking off to celebrate the day. So the duties for the celebration start from today evening itself. Arranging, organizing, cutting, cooking, cleaning, washing, ....... and on goes the list. And finally, if time permits, and if I get flowers, I wish to put an Athapookalam (floral mat) in the house. Let's see whether I am able to do it.

We also might have few friends visiting. So cooking will be in full swing. Though Mom is in control of the kitchen, I being the assistant will be loaded with work as well. But, still looking forward to celebrating this Onam at its best. :-)

Happy Onam!

Birthday

It was my hubby's birthday yesterday :-) The second one after our marriage. I really wanted to plan something nice for him. But it was not that possible. Because it was a working day. But then I thought a surprise cake will be a good idea. In the morning itself, I ordered for a cake and planned to leave office a little early so that I could go home, on the way pick some fresh flowers, and prepare for the surprise. I had to drop that plan as I had a meeting which went on for an hour after office hours. So I had to drop the plans of flowers.

On the way, I picked the cake, candles, and rushed home. And added to the chaos, hubby called up and said that he'll be home early. This was one day I really hoped that he would come a little late so that I could arrange everything neatly. But No! I reached home and just took the cake out of the box when hubby rang the bell at the front door. I started to panic. I quickly pushed the cake into the fridge, threw the candles, cake box and wrappers into the kitchen cabinet and hurried towards the door. He wasn't suspecting anything. Lucky!

The rooms were a mess following the weekend laziness. I quickly cleaned up the rooms and kitchen, mopped the floors, took my bath, and was ready. We went to the temple, spent some time there, and came back. Hubby said that we'll go out for dinner. And then I started arranging the table to cut the cake. He was indeed, very very surprised when I took out the cake. Wow! That surprise and happiness was all what I had hoped for. We pre-heated the griller and warmed up the lovely cake, lit the candles, took some pics, blew the candles out, cut the cake, gorged on it, and had some drinks. Yes that was it. I was the one who was the most elated.
The day followed by a nice dinner and coming back home a bit late.

What followed was the worst :-( I have fallen sick. Throat pain and the beginning of a fever. I was unable to sleep properly the night. Hubby was too kind and caring enough to come down with me at 2 am in the night and help me prepare some hot water. He waited very patiently as I washed my face and neck, gargled a bit of saline water to soothe the sore throat, and prepared a little bit of hot drink to my self. Today I am at home. That definitely was required, as I could not sleep properly the whole of the night and my body feels a bit weak as well. But I do have work to complete and I am working on that.

So ended my hubby's birthday!

Now time for some of the pics from the birthday!

Freshly Picked...

...from my terrace!

My shallots need to be cleaned thoroughly.

It is a joy when you grow something and see it fruiting.

Women's Day

Happy Women's Day to all the ladies out there!

Well, its wonderful being a woman and I know almost all of you would agree to it. Life gives us surprises, wonders, and all happinesses in small, yet neatly wrapped packages. And I love that. I don't want everything at one go.

Enjoy!

February 2011

Back after a long time again! Well it is almost the end of February and I have not blogged about anything this month. That does make me sad, but in my defense, I was way toooo busy (as always ;-))

Well, my work was a bit too hectic, household chores took a bit more priority, crochet, weekend travels, being with family and friends, and watching movies took all my time in the world. Now I am a bit free and found in a slot to type out something here.

Crochet is progressing well. I have completed a few small itty-bitty crochety stuff. Will be putting up the pictures soon on my Crafty Days blog. Do check it out.

Gardening also is going on pretty good. Most of my roses were in bloom over the past few weeks. I had shades of yellow, whites, oranges, reds, and pinks in the pots. Lovely! Some veggies also are coming up. I already harvested some tomatoes. But small black ants are causing great trouble. I need to find a solution to shoo them away.

Then we watched quite a lot of movies. Went out with friends and family all over the weekends, that I hardly had any time to relax. Meanwhile I am also reading a book and would write out the review soon at my My Space blog.

Christmas 2010

Finally another Christmas is here... And want to know what we did for Christmas this year? Well, we bought a small christmas tree and decorated it :-) I am so excited about this because it is my first Christmas tree. Wanna see how I decorated it, see here.

We put a silver shiny star in front of our house. Planning for something more in the evening. :-)

During the day we went out to the Cake Exhibition happening in the St. Joseph School Grounds. Though the event was a much awaited one, I was not too happy with the exhibition. It was toooooo crowded, hoooot, and an unorganized exhibition. But I loved two exhibits.

UB City was just opposite to the exhibition ground and we went there and spent some time there. Then we did a bit of yarn shopping from the Commercial Street, had lunch together, and finally reached home by evening.

Merry Christmas to all of you out there!!! :-)

Too Excited...

Yes I am a lot excited writing this post. Babies, be it whosever, are always such a pleasure. We have recently had a new member in our family. My co-sister-in-law delivered a baby girl two weeks back. We haven't been able to travel down to Trivandrum and see her. But have been seeing her pics - Thanks to the Internet! She is a lovely one. So guess what we had been doing over the weekend. Yes! Shopping for her.

It was a wonderful experience - shopping for a baby. And that too a baby girl. We picked up all things pink in colour. Cute baby blankets, caps, teeny-tiny socks, and more stuff. It was quite interesting. This is the first time that we shopped baby stuff and it was quite amazing. We were really excited by the colours and variety of items available for kids. We were too excited and ran about picking almost everything beautiful available. It was tough deciding which to pick of what.

Have you tried shopping for a baby? Well, try it. It's really a lot more interesting than shopping for adults.

Weekend Trip

Last weekend was indeed a good one! Our destination was the Nandi Hills – around 65 kms from our place. Well, to be frank, initially I was not too impressed about the idea. But yeah, travelling away, out of the city, was a way lot better than roaming around in the malls and crowds. Saturday morning when I woke up, it was cloudy, misty, and cool. It did brighten up my spirits a bit. Finally we started on the journey, a group of four. It was fun. As we drove out of the hustling city into the outskirts, the places and journey seemed beautiful. We could see open farmlands, mountains, animals roaming around, and the cloudy skies all around. The air seemed to get a lot more chilled and we started feeling cooler.

Finally we were at the foot of the Nandi Hills and the view was quite impressive. We could see the mist covered mountain top, clouds, and greenery all around. As we drove higher and higher, the view became all the more beautiful. There were monkeys all along the way and a lot of people, like us, driving to the top. As we reached the summit, it was chilled and windy. It was already 3 pm and we had our lunch. Right after lunch we headed for ice-creams and to the shock of our lives, a big monkey snatched one of our ice-creams and raced away :-)

We moved towards the rocky areas and to take a better view from the hill top. The view was wonderful. We could see large stretches of land and area, straight roads, clouds, and mist all around. We spent a lot of time taking pictures and enjoying nature all around us. At around 6 pm we were about to leave when we saw small orange patches in the sky. We waited; the sky turned golden, then lavender, pink, and a lot more wonderful shades I can’t name. It was perhaps the most spectacular sunset I have witnessed in my life. The colours turned in depth and the glow of the setting sun was all around. After around 10 minutes, it was dark all around us. We headed for our car and started our journey back. I was literally shivering and holding my shawl tightly.

So – I loved the trip! :-)

And the best part, we prepared some hot dinner at home; all four pairs of hands contributed and we had a late, though wonderful dinner. And slept tightly the whole night.

Girls...

Is being a girl one of the best things in the world? Hmm... I am not sure whether it is always. But yes, there definitely is a lot of happiness and thrill in being a girl. I guess there are a lot of things boys or men miss upon in life. We, the ladies, often enjoy the soft, lovely, and creative things of life, while men don't always do that. But I do really have to admit that being a girl is not always so pleasing. There is one thing that I always wish could have been removed from the tasks of a girl. No I am not talking about all the household chores, but only cooking. This is one thing that I don't enjoy doing everyday.

Cooking for passion and experimenting out is really enjoyable. But doing it everyday is something that I am not very passionate about. The worst part is deciding on what to prepare. Once the decision is made, I try to put in all my good thoughts and efforts to make it. When it turns out well, I am indeed very happy. But when it doesn't turn the way I hoped, there are fingers pointed towards me (My brother and hubby are way too good cooks than me ;-))

Dinner time is what gives me all the troubles. Somedays I reach from office feeling sleepy or lazy. But then the thought of having to cook something for dinner starts to worry me. The situation is all the more worse when the boys don't share the same food interests. But I must admit at this point that though I make bad food and may be not according to their tastes, they still eat and complain very seldom. I am lucky for having these two good boys in my life.

I always wish, had the boys taken up the cooking part! I am glad to do the cleaning, washing, and all other household chores.

Nobody asks the boys why the house is untidy, clothes not washed, plants not watered today, bedsheets not changed, cupboard messy, or anything. For anything and everything, the girls are the ones being questioned. Is this because boys doesn't know how to do these things? NO. It is just because we know how to do it better than them ;-)

So do you enjoy being a girl? I definitely do but now am confused about what to prepare for dinner today :-(

Another weekend well spent

This weekend was again a full-filled one. We actually had no time to rest properly after the busy days. Saturday morning started a bit dull as it was cloudy. In no time, it turned out to be a bustling day with the routine cloth washing. That was followed by a hustle and bustle in the kitchen, getting ready and leaving the house. By noon, we visited a family friend and spent some time there. Evening on the way home, we picked hubby's cousin and wife and spent a lovely evening hanging out. When the guys spent the rest of the late evening experiment with their cocktail mixer (shaker), we ladies were busy in the kitchen. And we had our dinner at midnight :-)

Lots of plans were lined up for Sunday, but everything went wrong as we all woke up late. But we had the whole day to spend and rescheduled the activities. It was again a cloudy and windy day. We headed our way to Lalbagh Gardens. Though I had been to Lalbagh earlier, it was sunny then. But this time, we enjoyed it very very much. We walked for hours, but still weren't tired. In between we stopped to enjoy the breeze by the lakeside, sit on the sidebenches, munch on spiced mangoes and pineapples, catch glimpses of lovers huddling in the plant and tree pockets, and take lots of pictures of all of us. Then we had lunch, reached home and spread out on our beds and watched television till late in the evening. By night, our boys became active and took control over the kitchen. Result:- we ate some really tasty food!

But now our lovely weekend is over. We kept wondering how quickly two days passed.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

My new friend!

I did mention that I took a new two wheeler in an earlier post. But I didn't tell u anything about the new vehicle rt? Okay, let me tell you. A black Suzuki Access 125!

The vehicle, I rather prefer to call it as the Black Lady. Don't know why but I prefer to. So this new black lady is a lot different than my old friend. She is not slim and sleek light my Kinetic. Rather she is a bit bulky and plump (may be to match my physique ;-)). Though bulky, the weight is not much. This was one thing I was concerned about before buying. If the weight is more than that of my Kinetic, I would take some time to get adjusted to balancing it. But to my surprise, she was more of being "light weight".

It is not even a week since I got her. So we are still new to each other. But we had a small adventure ride a few days back. It rained heavily that day and in the evening when we returned, a stretch of the road was completely under water. And when I say under water, the lady's tires were fully immersed in the water and the mat was wet! I had to do it as I was already late and there was no other way to get home. With lots of apprehensions and fear, we crossed. There were lots of risks involved - the tar was missing at some places, there were pebbles and stones on the way, and worst of all there were pot holes in the road. These were risks because I could not see what was where other than the water. Added to it when the big vehicles came from the opposite side, it was like waves coming off to our side. For a moment I felt I was on a boat ;-) But yes, we managed to the other bank of the road rather safely and without any problems. Thank God! Phew! My nerves were about to burst owing to my tension.

I was telling you about my new black lady rt... Initially we did have some problems or rather mutual understanding was less. If I had to be a bit harsh on my old Kinetic, this lady just senses it on my touch. So I took two days to get adjusted to this spontaneity of her. And once that was over, we became a bit more friendly. In many aspects she is similar to my old Kinetic. She waits patiently for me, understands me, and we have started loving each other ;-)

So that was it about my new lady. Two days more and she will be a week old. Are we planning to celebrate? No, we have to go to office :-)

Mentally Stimulating Diversions...

I found out a cool website today - http://www.sporcle.com

There are a lot of games sorted by categories in it. If you love small quizzes and games like me, then this website is real treasure. There are different categories like Entertainment, Just for Fun, Science, Geography, Language, Literature, and so on.

I loved the simple quizzes like naming colours, the surnames of cartoon characters, elements of the periodic table, and brand identification. Only when we are put to test do we start thinking of the small things in life!