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.

Monsoon Memories

Sharing some snapshots of our monsoon days. The rains came towards the end of July, bringing a long spell of unbearable heat and humidity to an end.

Beautiful skies lit up our evenings.

Frangipani Skies

While new blooms in the garden brightened our mornings.

Ruellia

Trumpet Vine

Milk and Honey Crinum Lilies

An unprecedented locust attack was quite an experience.... seemed straight out of a movie, as if apocalypse was at hand.

The downsides: waterlogged streets, the cockroach downpour from the drains, and the day-night electricity outages. 

Struggling For The Basics

 

Every coin has two sides. All this while we mostly came up heads. But the last couple of months have only thrown up tails. 

When we bought the house, the colony was in the middle of a changeover - from the hands of a struggling private company to the established government agency. Everyone was happy at the change and looking forward to better times. But good times vanished even before they could get here!

Let me list down the trouble areas for better understanding:

Roads

Were in extremely bad shape, with potholes so large that many neighbours admitted to substantial damage to their cars. 

Though repairs, carpeting and even recarpeting were carried out, they created newer issues. Manhole areas were left undone, leaving deep yawning holes where many tripped and hurt themselves. And the smoother roads led to over-speeding.

Water Supply

Was fairly regular but water quality was not good as it was muddy. Tanks and filters required regular cleaning.

Supply frequency reduced considerably, water pressure became an issue and the quality further worsened. There were days of no-show, as a result the overhead tanks became near-empty many times. The accumulated slush at the bottom of the tank got into pipelines and the filter, choking the entire system. 

Electricity

Was always a problem in this colony. Ten years back we suffered; our inverter and other appliances went kaput. 

Nothing has changed; rather the situation has gotten worse. After going through a 10-hour outage from 4PM to 2AM we thought we had seen it all. But the worst was an 18-hour outage that lasted from 11PM to 5PM of the next evening. After that they claimed to have changed transformers, cables and suppliers. But the power interruptions continued on a daily basis.

Sewage

The entire city is together on this one. The millenial city has no sewage disposal lines, and whatever is there for namesake does not work.

Waterlogging for days during heavy rains, with water even entering houses seems to be the norm here. Vehicles start malfunctioning as they are parked in water for days and their parts get rusted. There is backflow into the houses from the sewer, with slush and cockroaches getting deposited in our yards.

Garbage Collection

Has been a problem area off and on. 

Contractors were changed but that did not seem to help as garbage was not collected for days on end. And yet, they were prompt in collecting payments. Rainy days are again no-garbage-pick days.

All in all, the ground realities have been exposed within 1.5 years. Now only time and tide will tell what the future holds...

Then & Now: Front Garden

Next in the 'Then & Now' series are shots from the front garden. 

Now

One of the first things that caught my eye when we came around house-hunting was the possibilities that this lovely patch of green opened up. We had a few trees to start with - papaya, curry leaf, and hibiscus. We added more right after moving in - harsingar/shiuli, togor or wax flower, champa, moringa, tecoma, and a sago palm that we rescued.

Though our gardener propped a brinjal bush at a totally inappropriate location, I'm not complaining because the plant gives good produce. But I did insist on clearing out the patio edging and planting season flowers instead. Also, the unusually dry desert-like climate makes it the right environment for lilies. Have planted quite a few; hope they flower well.

Then

Decidedly unplanned and unkempt, with just about anything growing anywhere, it certainly looked like a gardener's worst nightmare in a lot of ways. 

The lack of fencing meant the street dogs could saunter in whenever they pleased. And those clothes drying on the railings.... Eewwww!!! Still I had the courage to take a chance... and with help from the better half managed to turn the place around within an year.

Going Organic - Part 5

In continuation from my last post on organic vegetable gardening, I thought of giving you a glimpse of the summer garden and its produce. The picture below is the view from my kitchen window; adding colour to the garden is the trumpet vine in the background.

Capsicums and Okra
As our Capsicums/Peppers and Okra/Ladyfingers have picked up pace, this is how the big patch looks. The tall plants in front are the ladyfingers and the bushy ones behind are the capsicums. And the produce is pretty satisfying.

Pumpkin Vine
One of the easiest to grow summer staples, the pumpkin vine can be started by planting seeds in late spring (March-early April). The aim here is not the fruit or flowers; the leaves and vine are also edible. They make delicious fritters too besides adding some much needed greens in the dry summer heat. Is container garden friendly.

Mint
Another summer staple, mint can be started by a mere sprig. It is hardy, grows lush quickly (especially in rains), and smells great.

Can be easily grown in containers. My little patch gives me enough leaves for fresh chutney every week.