UNUSUAL SIGHT....

It was very unusual to find a parrot sitting on the tree just outside our bedroom window of our apartment.
Here in Mumbai , where we stay its hard to find many trees around our apartment complex and hence less birds you can see sparrows, crows and lots and lots of pigeons but that's about it...

 But there is just a small land near our building which has a temple and a little open land around it where there are many trees planted and hence we are fortunate to find a little green spot just outside the bedroom window as the bedroom faces the temple although we cant directly see it as we stay on the 5th floor but the upper portion of the coconut trees reach the outside of our window.

So I was very excited to see this cute little parrot sitting on the tree (some might find it childish.. ) but for people like us who stay in concrete jungles its hard to find them flying around .

There are people who keep them in cages but its nice to see them free and natural.

FUN

I read a lot of blogs every day, especially homemaking, decor and food blogs. I am of the type who gets easily inspired by a written word.

With so much inspiration in the blogging world it’s very difficult not to want to do things that one has never done before, and for me that is sewing.. I am a very creative person if I say so myself and love to create things which involve painting, coloring, sticking etc… But I have never ever tried to sew.. Or you can say never ever felt inspired enough to feel like sewing and so I don’t own a sewing machine.. I do have a needle which I use during emergencies.Like a button needed to be fixed, a sudden tear which has to be tackled with..But I won’t call that real sewing.

After looking at the wonderful and colourful quilts on many blogs I had this strong strong  urge  to have a quilt for myself.. But as I said earlier I have to learn the ABC of sewing and making a quilt is like learning to write sentences.. Hehe…

          First cup of tea over chat and chat..

I spoke about this to a friend of mine who is very good at sewing.. and asked her if she could help me make a small placemat ..Which is like a quilt..Being a kind hearted girl she immediately said that she would.. She has never made a quilt before and so making a small one would be better than trying out a huge one.

So off I went to her house the next day.. Armed with guess what?  As I had no time to go to the market to buy new fabric pieces I decided to make one using my old cotton dresses which I no longer used.

                          
                           Squares of the quilt coming together.

At her home, I made my first quilt .I cut the squares and she stitched them together.. She used a whole one colour cloth for the back side of the quilt.

By helping me or making this quilt for me she has given me a lot of pleasure and since then I use in regularly as a dish drainer cloth.

I love my quilt and love to look at the little squares made with my well worn and loved dresses which are re-purposed and used again and will serve me for some more years.

 By helping me or making this quilt for me she has given me a lot of pleasure and since then I use in regularly as a dish drainer cloth.

   can you see the ready quilt with my second cuppa..

 

Her son has a DSLR..I am planning on buying one too, so I took some pictures like the one below with his camera as I wanted to know how they look. I was impressed.

GOOD MORNING

Hi,

It's early Sunday morning here...

Sitting here on the window sill of my bedroom ,looking out at the public garden where I can see morning walkers , doggies and kids around ..

It's not very early it's about 7.30 am and I am getting my morning dose of vitamin D with the early morning sunlight falling right on me . We have a east facing window.

My morning always starts (most days  cooking and packing my sons lunch box ) today being a Sunday I can enjoy my morning cuppa of hot tea with milk and my dunking biscuits (called toast or butter here ) some times it's hard crust bread for dunking...

Yesterday. Was a pretty full day,busy cooking some new dishes along with my daily chores.

I cooked a great Coorgi chicken dish which turned out pretty fabulous .

I have done a lot of baking too I baked a carrot cake and also a Banana cake.. I just got into a mood for baking ..Mornings are normally busy so I do not get enough time to bake a cake and evenings are for taking a walk or for grocery shopping and so cake baking is again postponed but.. I injured my little toe the day before yesterday ...and hence was stuck up at home.. which made me get up and do some baking 

                                 

                                          Banana cake 

Today is Sunday . the lunch menu will be 

Lunch :

chicken stir fry

beans with coconut

sambhar and rice

and Rotis..

dinner:

Potato toasted sandwiches..

Soup.

What did you cook for lunch today?

Lots of pending work to be done today...

Have a nice day...

BEAUTY OF EVERYDAY...

 There are some very small things that give me pleasure , which I try to incorporate in my day to day life and one of them being using new dishes, plates or spoons.. Even buying one small Tsp gives me as much pleasure as i would buying a gold necklace.. Hehe..
I know that a thing once used cannot be called " New" ..but I have found a way out to retain the newness as you can call it I rotate the plates and dishes i.e I use them for about a week and then send them into hibernation and out they come after a long period of them for me to enjoy them all over again.

I love using good looking crockery , plates which match the food that I make .. Here in India we normally use steel utensils Its only in the recent times that we have been using glass plates and bowls with the urbanization and as we are living in cities which are modern in their outlook. But for the rustic or the typical Indian meal I prefer to use my old and shiny steel which has lots of memories attached to it..wedding gifts,new home gifts,baby shower etc etc...

Most mornings I cook breakfast from scratch i.e something hot and fresh nothing precooked or store bought .
My hubby likes to have a heavy breakfast before leaving for work and hence it has to be substantial , now I am slipping from the point I love to serve this  in a nice way so that my day starts on a great note.

It you go to villages you will still find everyone using steel and aluminum vessels..(My mind tends to drift..)  Back to the point so, I try using nice plates to serve my breakfast..
I made upma today.. and served it on this lovely plate which is just the right size for breakfast ...

Doesn't upma served on a steel plate look good too..

POOL....

THIS IS A GREAT PHOTO OF AN INFINITY POOL...

A MAN CLEANING THAT POOL...

 

LONAVALA...

Spent the Sunday  at the picturesque town and hill station which is just 96 kms from Mumbai.

Lonavla and the adjacent Khandala are twin towns located around 622 m above sea level.

Its refreshing to travel to these towns as they are close as  takes about 2 hours by car and it’s so different from the concrete life of Mumbai. It’s cool, pleasant and lovely to look at..

We went there in the morning and were back by evening , but even that short visit was enough to refresh and rejuvenate me for the coming week which is going to be quite hectic with a big birthday bash to be planned.. At the end of the month..

Let me share with you a few pictures which I clicked while I was there….

   It started getting crowded as we were just reaching Lonavala

                           
                                           WATER FALL NEAR KHANDALA

It was quite misty when I clicked these picture and also very cool and refreshing to be standing there on top and looking at the huge waterfall at a distance.

                     This sweet fella was also there with his family

NOTHING LIKE A SPICED HOT ROASTED CORN WHICH IS ROASTED ON A COAL SHEGDI OR OVEN LIKE THING YOU SEE IN THE PICTURE... 

You can see how chilly it was by the dress the vendors are wearing...

You can also see some packets of boiled peanuts which is also consumed with relish here

You can see that the lady is fanning the coal shegdi in the above picture and that help to burn the coal which are in ..Can you see those yummy peanuts ? Have you eaten boiled peanut ?

MORNING GLORY....

As I walk out of my bedroom I can see this side stand which is just next to my front door.. This picture was taken a week ago around 6.30 in the morning 

This warm morning ray of light gives a cozy and fresh feel and hope for the new day to unfold...

Our thoughts have an enormous power or impact on our day to day life.. although they do not have any physical form they take control of you and hence begin a day with positive and healthy thoughts .. with the new ray of morning light coming into your life .. set up new goals everyday ..goals which you plan to achieve ..which you plan to follow come what may...

Start your day with new ideas , look forward to do something interesting, have something positive on your mind , put it on paper if you have to but keep your day full with positive energy and positive activities .. some which have to be done and some which you love to be get done..

INSTANT CHEER!!!!

 

Flowers brings a bright spot into a boring or mundane day to day existence.

I love the colour of these Hibiscus flowers which we use as our offering to Lord Ganesha.

WEEK END AT THE WATER PARK

May is always hot and humid here in Mumbai ... and so the plan to visit a water park for a cool and fun-filled day..

This water park was created in a open mountain area.. This makes it all the more enjoyable...

I am not a water person, enjoy a water park only to upto a certain level.. I don’t enjoy slides and other roller coaster type rides.. So my water park experience is restricted to water-falls and wave pools Hehe.. But never the less it’s an experience...

Here are some pictures I clicked there...and let the pictures do the talking...

 HAR-HAR GANGE FALL

WAVE POOL

SLIDES

WATER-FALL

WAVE POOL

KIDDIES SLIDE POOL

                                    SLIDE GOING UPSIDE DOWN


It was such a respite from the sweltering mid summer heat....

PHOTO EFFECTS...

As I always say reading blogs fills my day with bliss , they inspire me to do things which I love to do...
while reading blogs I came across a site called Picmonkey which is being used for photo-editing and I tried using it for some of my photos...
let me share with you two of the photos which I applied the effects that they are offering...

The above picture was clicked at my uncles place in Goa and I have given it the focal B&W effect

This next photo involves blurring the edges to improve the focal object

How do you like these effects aren't they cute...???