NEW CUTE CUTE MUGS

I admit I have a weakness for mugs , How much ever I might try not to buy them I almost always buy them when I see something bright and cute, It just invites me to buy it...

I was at my brothers house this Sunday and I had about an hour after lunch and before leaving for  my home.

My hubby loves his afternoon nap and wont trade it for anything in the world , I knew that he would have his lunch and go for his much-loved afternoon nap. Now I had about an hour before he gets up and is ready to leave (He does not like waiting....)

There is this great shop next to my brothers house which has some good stuff and as the festival season has started upcoming shops always stock up on some nice festive looking stuff.

So taking this opportunity (after peeping in and making sure that my hubby is sleeping.... Hey he does not like it that i waste my time on mind less shopping.. Its ok with him if I go for some reason and then spend some extra time there , but going just for the fun of it without having anything on the agenda is a big NO NO for him....)

I spent about 30 Min's there (most of my time is spent in the kitchen ware section ) as i love buying things connected to the kitchen.

I found this great looking mugs which I had been waiting very long for i.e polka dot mugs which have to look attractive..

They caught my attention and I just could not leave the shop without buying them.. There were 4 different types but  I bought only 3.

Aren't they cute... I just cant take my eyes of the red one with white polka dots and smile every-time I see that mug on my kitchen counter . I feel good that I did buy it as I gave a lot of thought before buying these mugs as space is a real constraint and where to keep them is a big problem ( I will make space and place for these beauties in my little home).

I never had mugs with a red and white combination and I thing they are lovely...

RAINY DAY TODAY....

 

Its been pouring today and the weather is just wonderful, of all the seasons that we experience in India I love the rainy season it makes me feel good , I feel like curling up in bed or on my couch and having a cup of tea with my favorite magazine in hand.

                                             THIS PICTURE IS TAKEN IN GOA

At such times I feel blessed to be able to sit at home and enjoy this weather, Being a homemaker has its own benefits and disadvantages too.For those who go out and work do not have time to appreciate beauty around. With the added nuisance of traffic jams, clogged roads and lots of congestion.

So today's day was spent in a lazy way at home cooking and doing a little bit of cleaning of the books shelves where my son has not yet discarded his previous years books , so I had to sit and sort them out and put them out on his study table so that he could sort out his book for donation or for discarding.

There is something else that I enjoy doing when the weather is sooo sooo lovely... and that's I think you guessed right EATING with a capital E.

I feel like eating a lot many things and some of them are...

      ROASTED SWEET CORN SMEARED WITH SALT , CHILI AND A DASH OF LEMON

A hot cup of tea in a traditional cup which i have , It gives me a feeling of warmth and coziness.

Hot and spicy batata vada or Potato filled savory balls deep fried in chana flour after adding spices .
There are so many more things like a hot soup which i had yesterday night . sorry no pictures

SREERAM CHANDRA WINS INDIAN IDOL5

INDIAN IDOL is a very popular reality show  on Indian television, I have been watching this program regularly for the last 5 years..

I have always thoroughly enjoying watching the contestants from various states of India sing and really appreciate the efforts that go into making them what they are. To go through the whole selection process and then to go through the tough rounds and finally to be in the top 3 is an achievement in itself...

This was the first time time that I got an opportunity to visit the sets of the Indian Idol and was fortunate to enough to be able to

watch the three finalist perform at close quaters. Its a very thrilling experience to be actually on the sets and see the program being shot.The noise , the action and the thrill of actually watching the program being shot is such a fulfilling experience.

All the three RAKESH MAINI, BHOOMI TRIVEDI AND SREERAM where really fabulous but Sreeram was the best . He consistently performed well and was never in the bottom 3 .Bhoomi too is a great singer with lots of confidence which is required, to be a success on stage. Rakesh Maini too has a wonderful voice and a seemed to be very nice person.

I could click this picture  just as they were leaving the studio to go to their respective vans.

Meeting these stars of the show which i always loved will remain forever in my memory .

WAY TO PUNE****

My brother was in Pune over the weekend , Its a small place about 3 hours drive from Mumbai (the place where we stay..)

He had to attend a function there and so the visit , I too was invited but could not go due to my son's college admission process which is going on . 

I uploaded the pictures clicked by him on his way to Pune , I would love to share them with you , how I  wish I could go , as I had mentioned in the earlier post I am very attracted to the greenery that nature offers us.There are a few  who love to go on the beach and play in the water i.e  they like to be connected to the water element of nature, but when I go to the beach I prefer to just spread out a beach towel and sit there looking at the ocean with a nice book in hand and feeling the cool breeze from the sea on my hair .

Oh Wow!!! writing  blogs is really great ,The above  thought just flew out of my mind as i was writing the post and I feel so good at being able to understand a little part of me... Writing your thoughts on paper is really therapeutic It makes you delve right in your inner being and let the thoughts just flow like water out of you which you might not be possible if you are just busy and doing your routine things.

This road you see above is a Express highway and so you see that its not crowded and the ride is smooth as against the way we travel in our city . Normally in Mumbai we face a humongous problem of traffic jams and most of the time we are traveling bumper to bumper...

So travelling on such roads is a sure stress reliever where you can really enjoy driving and looking at the beauty around you .

Did you enjoy looking at the pictures? Please comment ...

PLANTS ON MY WINDOW SILL****

I am not a person who has lots of plants around the house. Not that I do not appreciate greenery on the contrary I love having greenery around me and even when we travel its the green surrounding and the fresh serene air that attracts me to that place. 

But when it comes to maintaining plants at home i am quite bad or i might say that i have never been interested enough to learn from people who love gardening and who really have a green thumb..

                                                     MY LITTLE TULSI PLANT

My mother in law maintains a  lovely green patch in the small balcony space that is available to her , Here in India we have very small apartments and place is always at a premium and so having a small patch of space for your plants is really a rarity but some people just manage to make that space .

So here you will find some plants (The money plant being a recent addition) . 

It was the Tulsi plant gifted to me by my neighbor that actually started my planting journey ... Its considered to be a holy plant and in many households people actually pray to it in the morning...

This plant is a very delicate plant and does not last very long , it has only leaves and they drop off when they are at a mature stage , then you get fresh sprouts which you have to water regularly for a fresh plant to grow again ... The tops have to be cut to propagate growth... I was doing all that i was told to do and the results showed i had a plant which grew to be nice and healthy (surprised my neighbor to see how well it was growing).

This little plant encouraged me to buy some more and try my hand at planting and maintaining some plants at home (right now i have got only three)

Will update you if I plan to  buy some more...

COLLECTION****

I love collecting things especially stationery ..

When I was a kid there were very limited selection when it came to stationery there was probably only one company making only one type of pencil and a particular company having some erasers.Owning a special eraser which was  then called a "scented eraser" (which had a sweet smell to it) was a  luxury and i remember using it very sparingly so that it does not get scrubby and ugly.

But now kids have such variety of erasers which all may not be good for the work they are made for, but they are very good to look at  .

SO HERE IS A LITTTTLE... PART OF MY COLLECTION... I haven't taken pictures of all ,which I will and will share it with you .Those like-minded please comment and tell me if you really enjoyed looking at them...

kITCHEN DECOR

I love the rustic look of the above Plaque.

I love to decorate my Kitchen with this which are either handmade or with things which i love to look at while cooking.

The one below is my absolute favorite, a gift from my sister who stays in the US .

RAINS RAINS *****

The much awaited rains are here in Mumbai, I love this season there a certain feeling of well being , I am more relaxed and more at ease when it rains outside...

Here are the pictures i clicked from my apartment window...

This was how it actually looked like when the sky was overcast with thick water laden clouds (this is the actual picture).

Two minutes later it started pouring and  then cleared a bit the light outside was clearer This was around 6.00 in the evening so time for sun set , I wanted all of you to get a clearer picture and so I  changed the mode of my digital camera , changed it to night vision so that you all could see the exterior better than in the first picture...

Here you can see our society swimming pool...

BUTTERFLY ON MY WINDOW SILL****

Nature has its own beauty . Nature has so much to offer and you can see it everywhere in gods creation , in birds, animals and all the amazing things around us.

I love colours and so i always look out for colours in nature and when i  find them i capture them in my camera which i would view myself , but now blogs have been instrumental in helping me share this with you

 Yesterday morning as i finished my morning tea which i usually have on my window sill , i went to keep my mug in the sink and returned back to my place to just relax for sometime before my daily routine would take over my time and mind power(Haha...) I can think well only when i am alone and  silent.

I saw this beautiful butterfly who had just settled on my sill and was looking so beautiful that i was awestruck...

Look at the perfect colour combination and look at the spots!!!!!!!!. Can any of us create such a wonderful creature... 

doesnt it look like a cloth is wrapped around the back of the insect...

MID-MORNING TEA SEAT****

All my friends must be wondering what does the title of the post mean right?

Well let me tell you I have 2 cups of tea in the morning, One early in the morning after I wake up and the second during mid-morning after my household duties are half done...

I love to sit with a hot cup of tea or a nice cup of filter coffee, I normally sit on my window-sill and look at the society compound where i can see the swimming pool and the kids play area.

We stay in apartments ,so what we see all over is mostly high rise buildings , so a little greenery or water here and there is always welcome...

But the best part of the morning is sitting with my tea cup and reading  a interior magazine like BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, OR A COUNTRY LIVING...
It gives me great pleasure to just sit there looking up in the sky and thinking of the things that i would love to do and how i would like my days to be and what I could have done etc etc...

This is the best part of my morning schedule , most of the remaining time i spend either cooking or cleaning...