Balcony Bliss

 

I am currently rediscovering the joys of a balcony. After living on the ground floor for the last half a dozen years, I am happy to be strung at treetop level again. 

Maroon chrysanthemums brightening my balcony 

Though I miss the expansive garden from our last home, including our backyard and veggie patch, the simplicity of container gardening has its own charm.

Parakeets are frequent visitors

Most days the first neighbours I see and hear are the feathered varieties. With open skies and a multitude of trees facing one balcony, birding comes as an in-house advantage.

A glimpse of the greens through the frosted window 

While the second balcony faces the road and a row of apartments, my greens give me ample opportunities to enjoy the space.

Republic Day flypast 

And on Republic Day, we viewed some amazing flypast by our armed forces since those beauties zoomed past right in front of our balcony.

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 Sunbirds In Spring

 

Come spring, quite a bunch of flowers started popping up in the front garden - roses, nasturtiums, ice, and marigold flowers - to name a few.

And one could hear the familiar call of the sunbirds, with the bright blue of the male glistening in the sun while the female sported a more subdued green and brown plumage. As they flitted from one flower to the next, inserting their beaks in to suck nectar, we watched their antics from the living room. They seemed to enjoy the hanging hen chime in the porch, clambering on to it on every visit.

Then I took off on a three day visit to Bangalore, and returned to find the purple sunbirds starting to build a nest on my wind chime. Of all the places they could have chosen, they found this to be the safest place! Hanging mid air, delicately balanced between two bells, the most fragile nest started taking shape bit by bit.

Day 2

Tiny blades of dried grass, dry leaves and twigs, and a fierce amount of determination went into building the nest. As we watched with awe, the tiny female bird made innumerable trips, bringing in materials and deftly sewing items together with her sharp hooked beak. Watching her was a lesson in dexterity and patience.

Don't miss the round-shaped doorway to the sunbirds' home, or the overhang they added to ensure the insides remain shaded in the growing heat. After all, every species looks out to provide the best for the babies.

Seeing the frenzied antics of the purple sunbirds, and their sheer diligence in building a secure and comfortable nest, reminded me of Kahlil Gibran's words. Words from 'The Prophet' that are not only well-written but very appropriate, where he describes the process of birthing as "Life's longing for itself". 

Meanwhile, this story is bound to have a second part as we keep an eye on the purple sunbirds and their attempts at raising a brood. Stay tuned!

Monsoon Diary

 

This year the monsoon has been kind to us. Keeping it cool and pleasant without drowning us out. So here's a visual diary of the season which is otherwise so welcome for the relief and renewal that it brings.

As the plants heaved a sigh of relief after battling the unbearable summer heat, one could see the garden looking visibly happy, and producing both flowers and vegetables. 

However a squall brought down the Gulmohar tree beside our house, damaging a car in the neighbourhood. And I promptly put up a piece of the lopped off trunk in the front garden. Had been meaning to add a tree trunk for a long time.... finally managed.

As the skies turned gray, the bright rain liles and portulacas provided perfect contrast by making the garden vibrant with their colours. Little pops of happiness!

Even though we diligently water our plants through summer, it is always amazing how a few drops of rain makes everything flower in such abundance. Our portulacas have been a source of joy, much like the beautiful skies above.

And flying the tricolour at our home to mark 75 years of India's independence added to our monsoon fun.

Hope the rains will remain enjoyable henceforth, and leave us with some good memories of this season.

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.

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!

Deepawali Vignettes

Snapshots from around the house on our first Diwali in the new abode.

First, the preparations...

Then the new upholstery...

And the lights...

Then finally the festivities...

Friends, family and feasting added to the sweetness of the festive season! :)

Eco-Friendly Diwali

We celebrated an eco-friendly Diwali this year with no crackers.

Not that it made us inhale any less smoke, given that we had neighbours who went berserk! But our decorations were all kept natural and floral...

Including the pooja decorations.

After all it is the festival of lights....

Not one of sound and pollution!

Hope better sense prevails next year.

Happy Diwali

Wishing my readers a very happy and prosperous Diwali.


May the festival of lights bring joy, happiness, warmth, love and peace into your lives.

Curio Cupboard

It has been ages since I posted anything about the 'inside' of our house! :)

As I looked through old pictures, I realized how I have this tendency to turn every available space into a curio cupboard. So I decided to share snippets from one such cupboard; mind you, officially this is supposed to be a book-case but never mind....

So you have the most random things displayed together. Like this pair of coffee mugs I picked up from a dollar store in Denver...

...Displayed alongside this pair of marble elephants collected on a trip to Agra.


...Sharing space with this lil' hand-painted bottle that holds treasures collected by my son on a walk.


Alongwith this basket of potpourri.


But now they all sit (and fit) together snugly! :)

Jodhpur Finds

Time to share with you some of the goodies we brought back from Jodhpur.

When we were heading out for the vacation, Mr. and Ms. Puppet were feeling rather left out since we were going to their homeland. So we got back a relative of theirs to cheer them up! Meet Mr. Musician.... hope his soulful strains bring back nostalgic memories! :)


When I was making my wishlist last month, I didn't realise the first item will get ticked off so soon.


Ok, so the one I finally got is not as big as I wanted. But at least the home now boasts of a 'jharokha' on the wall, adding to the living room decor.