A return gift with thanks

The house that we currently live in, has been quite 'fruitful' literally. It is a colonial era bungalow which has a huge compound with so many trees that we keep getting some or the other variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers etc around the year. Beginning with Amla in January, we had fruits like lemons, plums(ber), mulberry, drumsticks, mangoes, jamun, bel(wood apple), guavas till now, one after the other in a series (Remember the 'ber' post some time ago?). Apart from these, there are other plants and trees that keep giving us much more, like peepal, neem, palm tree, groves of curry leaf, hibiscus, roses, Jasmine, bottle brush, sheesham, imli and many more that I don't even know the names of! The flower beds are full of decorative plants, hedges and crotons. Oh, and did I mention Holy basil? There is so much of holy basil(tulsi) growing in and around the flower beds and kitchen garden, that we could call it a commercial crop. All of this is unbelievably in the middle of a bustling city.

All this while, we enjoyed the fruits and distributed some too, and kept thinking about the selfless souls and the blessed hands who planted these decades ago. And we decided to add a few before we leave, to be planted preferably in the holy month of Shravan, when we get plenty of rain and a very conducive weather for growing new plants.

So here we go. The occasion was also special as the little pie turned one month old. Coco amd co. planted six saplings which consisted of good varieties of mangoes, pomegranates, lemons and custard apple. I am looking for an opportunity to bring Copper pods(amaltas) and parijat and plant them too before rains are over. Those trees are heavenly when they flower.

This was second such occasion. A few years ago, during our Himalayan foothills days (mmm..😍) we planted mango, jamun, guava and papaya in the compound on Makar Sankranti. It just feels amazing to think that someone will one day enjoy the fruits and wonder. And we might visit that place years later to find those trees and reminisce nostalgically.

No Name, No Date

The little pumpkin has completed one month, and still goes without a name! That may sound weird but naming one's own child is the most difficult job. one day you decide something and next day you just don't like it😥. Naming others' kids , on the other hand is as simple as suggesting all the fancy names you can think of, and they'll choose whatever they like. I am saying so with the experience of someone who has suggested names to a baby girl born two days later after pumpkin . From a multitude of lovely and fashionable names, the parents chose one and pumpkin's baby cousin has a name 😚 .

Oh, and also, however this little pie sleeping in my arms is one month old, his due date is still 10 odd days away! You see, he was supposed to be born in first week of September. Both the kids, Coco as well as the little pumpkin are born at 34 weeks, due to different complications each time. So whenever I come across mothers who have given birth on expected due date or even later( God bless you, wonder woman.. you exist!!), I secretly admire them for this sheer superpower of not having complications before term. I, on the other hand, seem to have another skill. Bringing preterm babies ( and raising them well, as per records till now, fingers crossed) is my thing 😊

The above picture? Just a click of a paper giraffe, a few kids were making with me last year, nothing actually to do with Coco or pumpkin. It is there because it is cute🤗