Know Your Style Persona?

Just took this fun quiz here to check out my style personality. Got a blooper the first time round but my second attempt gave better results. So this is who I am...

Pretty close actually! ....Why else would I have a whole blog for my home! :)

Go on, have some fun yourself...

Monsoon Magic

This year the rains have hardly come to this part of the country.... but nevertheless we enjoyed whatever little bounty the skies bestowed. Sharing with you some snapshots of the monsoon taken from various corners of our new home.

First, we peep out of the balconies and enjoy the overcast skies as dark clouds gather overhead.

Nimbus black clouds rolling in over the horizon

The feeling of joyous anticipation as a gentle breeze caresses our cheeks.

The trees swaying in the breeze

Then the raindrops come.... the familiar pitter-patter sounds sweeter in a new living area.

A glimpse of my hanging planter through a rain-swept glass door

And then the skies clear up, and a beautiful blue emerges.

The dazzling blue of the sky reflected in our living room tiles

Soft, cottony wisps of clouds that remain in the sky ensure a gorgeous sunrise next morning.

Glimpse of the sunrise from our kitchen balcony

Hope the rains touched your hearts with as much joy as ours.....

Trainspotting: Part 1

Remember I told you we live near the railway tracks, and see all kinds of trains passing by all day long. Well, over the last three months in the new house we observed quite a few different types of trains and learnt to identify them. Now even my kids can tell you which is which! :) And they do that all the time for visitors and first-timers.


So I thought I'd take you through a tour of the trains we spot. Only I couldn't capture all of them on camera, so there will be a Part 2 post sometime later. But for now, here goes...



This is the regular passenger train with its trademark blue coaches.



And notice how this one has loads of people on top. Unfortunately folks here still think it is cool to sit atop since it is a non-electrified, diesel line. What they don't realize is how dangerous this is; one sharp brake and they could all topple over. (And I'm not even mentioning the evils of ticketless travel here...)

This is the regular goods train with its boring rust brown coaches.

And this is the more interesting container goods train. The different colored containers passing by in a queue make for such a pretty picture!

This one is a coal train, loaded to the brim.

This train with blue coaches is used to ferry cars. Notice how the coach size is bigger and has see-through openings.

Hope you enjoyed this first round of trainspotting! Stay tuned for Part 2.

Twinkle Twinkle, Pretty Periwinkle!

I planted two flowering plants about a week back - a Portulaca and a Periwinkle.





This white periwinkle is the first flower to have bloomed in the garden of our new house. Another milestone crossed! :)


The portulaca has already got a bud; waiting for the blooms to sprout forth soon.

Our New Birdbath

We just added a traditional terracotta birdbath to the sill of our kitchen balcony garden. The heat has been so scorching this summer, this was the least we could do for our feathered friends.



Glad to say it has been well received and gets its daily share of visitors! :)

Playing Hostess

We had our first house party this weekend for my cousin and aunt who’d come from Bangalore. So all my ‘specials’ came out as we spruced up the new house!

Ikat cushion covers to complement the new sofas

Pastel colored table spread with traditional Bengal embroidery work

Some dressing up the walls

Removing clutter from shelves to make them look presentable
(That is my coffee set in the kitchen)

Adding some greens indoors

And of course, some yummilicious food…. peppered with lots of good-hearted banter.

Finally the house felt like a home! :)

Garden Gossip

I have been trying to add to my meagre garden in the new house, though this is hardly the right time to do so. With temperatures hovering around 45 degrees Celsius for more than a week, everything is scorching and dry. Hot winds in the afternoon only make it worse for the poor plants to survive in this furnace.

Anyhow, the clay pots I bought for the griha-pravesh now serve as planters on my stairway window sill. Thankfully these plants are still coping better since they remain in the shade.

This new succulent I planted in a hanging pot is struggling – some days it looks bright and fresh, on other days it seems all withered. I have removed it from its perch and placed it in a shady corner; hope that helps it pull through.

On an afternoon of sudden, unexpected showers I planted 4 seeds of a flowering creeper that my cousin shared with me. To my absolute joy, all four of them sprung up, nodding their little heads despite the heat. But unfortunately they are now shriveling up; each day I seem to lose a sapling and it feels awful. :(

The one thing that still brings a smile – the Butterscotch Birdhouse, one of my creations, has finally found its place adding some color and cheer to my garden, and giving my palm tree company!