Celebrating April

 

April is always a busy and festive sort of month in our home. Sharing with you some glimpses of the month...

The first week we celebrate a birthday, and the next week we mark the anniversary of our move along with the start of the Bengali new year. 

This is also the month when the onset of summer becomes evident and the garden is full of the seasonal blossoms before the hot winds of May and June make everything barren. 

Our home has always been blessed with bowls full of sweet-smelling blossoms -- shiulis in autumn and bel or jasmine in summers. A tradition started by my mother and one that we happily continue.

For this year's new year celebration we served square rava idlis along with avocado on toast, a first for us. The avo guacamole turned out delicious and creamy and the idli-chutney combo made a hearty meal. Of course we prepared the traditional payesh too but forgot to click a picture.

The Kitchen Corner

Last year around this time I decided to set up a workspace for myself. For that, I required the garden table to be placed in my bedroom. So I decided to shift all the green goodies on it to a new place to free up the said table. The corner outside the kitchen window was most appropriate since a fabricated structure was already in place.

I found a stone slab of approximately matching dimensions and placed it on the fabricated iron cage. Then I arranged my plants, the log of wood and the old letter box on it.... and voila! there was some more green added to the backyard.

Over a period of time, I moved around some of the things to give the place a fresh look. These small planters also substituted to add the touch of green to my bathroom.

The old letter box cleverly hides some leftover painting materials like sandpaper and brushes. And the flowers bring in the much-needed occasional bursts of colour.

Mosaic Makeovers

 

We tried out a couple of more mosaic projects around the house (mainly the garden) in the last couple of months. 

Added these hand-cut flowers to a broken cement pot to turn it into a cactus rockery.

Created a blue heart on a stone slab to commemorate 2020, the year of the nasty pandemic that has taken the world by storm. 

This blue heart mosaic stands in our front garden as a mark of thankfulness to all the frontline workers in the middle of these unprecedented times.

Hope our wish for a happier, healthier world comes true soon.

Then & Now: Kitchen

 

The kitchen is perhaps the most important element in a home layout, what I would consider as the heart of the abode. So it is imperative that it not only be designed well but also be functional from a comfort cum practicality point of view.

Now

This is the one area of the house we had to redesign completely, right from scratch. It involved tearing down everything, and rebuilding to our own aesthetic and functionality. 

We consciously avoided adding a chimney as we find current models too bulky and hard to clean. Though my original colour scheme was teal, I have since made peace with this one. Also, I quite like the honeycomb backsplash.

Then

The original kitchen was a horror. Broken countertop, missing pieces of modular ware, and extremely poorly maintained.

At the risk of sounding judgemental, I shudder to think that a couple of kids (apart from sundry adults) were fed from this ill-maintained kitchen. Totally unacceptable in my mind.

Autumn Vibes

With the coronavirus pandemic having waylaid all plans of the Durga Puja-Dusshera festivities, the circumstances have almost forced us to look beyond the clutter. To return to the slow life, where a change in season was heralded by natural phenomena and not man-made ones. Well, that is exactly what this post celebrates.... 

Shiuli (or night-flowering jasmine) flowers from the garden bring in the autumn vibes, along with the perceptible cooling of the mornings and evenings. 

Each morning we are greeted by some of the flowers strewn on the ground, for they fall as soon as the sun rises. And then begins our ritual of gathering them all by shaking the tree vigorously, with newspapers spread underneath to collect the flower shower. The previous days' flowers are relegated to the compost pit while the fresh ones are stored in bowls, their typical sweet scent hanging in the air.

The month-long flowering of the Shiuli coincides with Durga Puja, and these flowers are considered choice offerings to the mother goddess.

Garden Vistas

One of the reasons why we chose this abode were the ample open spaces, with lots of scope for gardening. So our greens hold pride of place, and we try every trick to keep them looking attractive.

Sharing with you some views we can't get enough of!

The corner of the front yard blooming in an array of colours.

Our little birdie brightening up the branches of the banyan bonsai.

The wooden plank that declares the backyard as 'Our Happy Place'!

The pink and maroon duet at the entrance, and in the garden.

These beautiful garden vistas make all our efforts worth the while!

Garden Slab Mosaic

This month we finally finished our first mosaic project. Gave a colourful makeover to a dull, grey concrete slab lying around the front garden, turning it into a pretty stepping stone instead.

Now this is no ordinary mosaic. It contains contributions from 3 generations - the pink pieces belong to a tea set my mother received on her wedding, the other coloured pieces have come out of broken and damaged ceramic crockery from my kitchen, while the square tiles on the edging were collected by my children from our previous home when they were younger. This coming together of 3 generations is what makes this piece of mosaic really special!!!

To read about the project details and the process we followed to make this mosaic, click here.

The mosaic tile now sits right in front of the children's bedroom window, under the papaya tree, nestling amidst the greens and blooms.

Love how we turned something ordinary to something special. We've got just one life; live inspired, I say!

Decor Prompts

In my efforts of trying to get the new house to look like a home, I have been adding bits and pieces to some key areas....  small touches and decor effects that bring in a certain warmth and lived-in feel.

From a Ganpati with dried florets at the entrance, right across the main door...

...to money plant in a bottle in the kitchen.

The macrame plant hangers that liven up the bathroom are all made by me.

Sundry florals from our garden, propped in random bottles and vases, pep up the living room.

And of course, my cherished green babies that give the home a welcoming, fresh feel.

The packing cases that contain my decoratives are not even opened yet. Can't wait to dress up the walls and corners with all the knick-knacks.

The Log of Wood

Sometimes the smallest things hold the strongest connections, just like this log of wood in my garden.

So this piece comes from a huge peepul tree that grew right outside our windows.... in our previous apartment. The peepul gave us many interesting experiences - from watching the antics of mynahs, parakeets and barbets, to seeing the eagle family's annual expansion, tracking the visits of the migratory rosy starlings, to getting awed by the bees and how beautifully they formed their hive. We got a ringside view of all these and more.

One monsoon when the peepul grew rapidly, spreading it's branches into people's homes, it was decided to prune it down. And that is when I opted to keep one of its branches as a keepsake in my garden. My mom thought I was a nut to be doing that but now every time I look at the log, it reminds me of so many stories! When we recently moved houses, I chose to carry the peepul log into my new setting.

Weather-beaten and gnarled, now the peepul log rests on the blue garden table under the mango tree, holding some of my green treasures. Every monsoon it duly rewards us with a toadstool or two! And makes the perfect backdrop in all our garden photos.

Aah, the joy of giving in to our crazy desires sometimes! And valuing those little things that money cannot buy...

Adding Warmth To The Winters

The new year has started with temperatures dropping recklessly and the days fogging up. So I decided to start the year with a winter decor idea.

I always make slight changes to the decor with the onset of full-blown winters. Rugs dot the floor, adding warmth to the rooms and bringing some relief from the cold tiles. I also drape old, unused shawls on the sofas.

The shawls serve well as warm covers, especially when you plonk in to catch a late-night movie on a freezing winter evening. Tuck in the shawl into the sofa seat cushions, throw in some matching cushions on top, and your winter seating arrangement is ready!


So this is what my regular TV-viewing sofa looks like in winters, all warmed up! :) Hope the idea helps around your house too.

Hand-Towel Basket

Felt too lazy to go out and buy a towel hanger to hold the hand towel in the master bathroom.

Picked out an old, discarded fruit basket.

Threw in a couple of interesting things- like a pine cone I picked up in California, and a scented candle decorated with dried flowers.

Added the hand towel, and hey presto! My towel basket was complete. :)

Good that the arrangement matches my master bath color scheme- beige and brown.

Like the idea? Let me know....