मीठी बेरियां, मीठी यादें

Greetings from the lazy woman and her peeps. We all are enjoying sunny February days, with a variety of fruit trees and a few blossoms in a yard the size of a farm. The blossoms are actually very  few and what you are seeing above is one slightly better corner, photographed at a tricky angle to appear somewhat like a blooming garden. My parents are here for a few months and I am getting the best kind of pampering and 'Ma ke haath ka khaana' (mom's food) after so many years. Not only that, my mother and I try to stay healthy by walking within the compound and doing a few breathing exercises.

During one such walk, we went to one far end of the yard where wild plum (ber) shrubs grow. I squealed with delight at finding the ripening wild fruits, instantly remembering my school days. My school was in an Air Force Station, surrounded with forested area. Outside the school gate, there was a small clear area where we used to wait after school for our school rickshaw or bus to pick us up. Some of the adventurous kids would utilize this waiting time by finding these 'ber' shrubs which were all around in abundance, and would venture deep into them to pluck these fruits, braving the thorny bushes, wasps, insects or occasional snakes even.

I had joined this school in 4th standard and most of these kids had been there since beginning. Being small and new, I used to accompany these adventurers sometimes or stay back with the sensible ones on some days. Though, sometimes a parent or teacher or a 'parent who is a teacher' would surprise us and on such occasions, the adventurer kids would run for their lives. (I used to thank my stars for staying back on these occasions) Some of them would be caught and their 'bers' would be confiscated. The fruits turned out to be mostly small and unripe, plucked in haste and greed. The lectures/admonishing/scolding that they would get used to be harsh. So much trouble for such little 'fruit'.

Looking at this large bowl of wild plums and remembering... those naughty adventurer souls, those studious 'didis' who would warn them, those inspecting parents, that rickety rickshaw that would show up an hour late, those thorny scratches, those bulging pockets full of green wild fruits and those victorious smiles of the wanderer fruit gatherers... oh! Come back you scoundrels and I would give you this plate of plums, this whole bowl, those entire shrubs even... if only you would bring back those precious childhood days once more!

(It might look strange that the topic of this post is in Hindi. I could not find any words in English that would express the underlying sentiment like these words do. Thank you for bearing.)

What's New?

New year and a new post! After all my aspirations, trials and tribulations I am here again finally. These past few months have kept me occupied in various things, craft being the chief one of them. More than anything else, I hone my photography skills(however insignificant) on my crafts these days. So dear reader, you can expect most pictures in my posts related to my crafts. Please bear with them.

Now, lets come to the main subject. I mean Coco. As expected from the son of a strict mother, he is turning into a fine gentlemanly boy, who tries to be of use by putting spoons back in the cutlery stand after licking chyawanprash off of them! Thanks to my keen eyesight and 'Vyomkesh Bakshi' like detective spirits, I spot them right away. So, you can come to my home and stay assured of being served with clean cutlery. Almost always. :D 

Oh, by the way, we have moved into a British era bungalow, that comes with a defunct fireplace et al. But, unlike the good old 'foot of the Himalayas' days, I am yet to discover the joys of staying here. The elaborate engagements of social life and personal matters have kept all of us too busy to look around and smell the flowers. Literally!

But, one can always hope, right! 

Read on for picture descriptions. It might be interesting, I promise!

The topmost picture is of two dreamcatchers out of which the white one is hanging one one of my living room walls delicately. The multicolored one is made on order for someone. It might be interesting for you to know that the rings for both of them come from a large embroidery hoop, that couldn't serve its intended purpose. It hung inside my closet for many years, until one fine day another purpose was found for it. Destiny!

 The second image is of few cards that I made for someone on request. They might look ordinary but they are the fruits of a couple of hours of painting, measuring, cutting, gluing, babysitting, snacking and homing in general.

Then there is one corner of my living room which I tidied up hurriedly before clicking a decent enough picture for the blog. 

The last picture is of Pink Pitari's jewelry, that was lying in separate mounds of necklaces and earrings while I was clicking their pictures for promotions. 

I think this is enough for the first post of the year. Hope to be here more often. 

Rainbows And Paper Boats

As we have settled in yet another cantonment with renewed enthusiasm, things are taking their own course in a much satisfying way. Craft is happening, Pink Pitari is going on and Coco is growing up to become smarter and sharper, with a million questions ready in his arsenal. Amid pouring rains, the lazy woman is making her crafting time worthwhile with lemon tea, the teabags for which were carefully packed back in April when we were moving from the tea-town. It proves that I can only plan in advance if it involves tea or craft!

It rained cats and dogs on his supposedly first day of school, and he was home, playing with his toys in the veranda, when I started telling him how we used to make paper boats during rains as children. He laughed at the idea that his mother could ever have been a child. And then it struck me...isn't it better to make a couple of boats for him rather than telling him stories of a time he can hardly imagine. Out came a few sheets from his old notebooks and the boats were sailing in the temporary lake formed outside our house within next five minutes, bobbing up and down, chasing each other.

While the usual bringing up Coco is happening, I always keep pace with my craft projects, and to be true, it is becoming quite a passion for me. Though it is difficult to find good quality craft supplies in the new town, the lazy woman has resorted to online shopping of the materials and is churning out heart stealers on a regular basis. 

To sum it up, life is good wherever you want to make it good, and it is good here too. Another house shifting is coming up soon as we will move to a nice bigger house, and the stories of crafting in the garden will resume soon. Like the old, old times you know!

I Like To Move It, Move It!

Hello from another corner of our incredible country!

Yes, we did it again.. I mean shifting to another station. Though, last time, we moved to a place that is famous for its scenic beauty and cool climate. This time, we are braving the scorching heat in a crowded city of North India. However, like all feisty army wives, I have made my peace with this place and already liking the fact that for the first time in so many years, I will be living in the heart of a bustling town, with markets and malls in close vicinity. You win some, you lose some.

In contemplative moments, I compare my life to a snail who carries her home on her back. The news that I just delivered in a sentence has a deep impact on all our lives. While Coco is enjoying an extended summer break, I have taken a break from my incessant crafting and Coco's father has his own gazillion things to chalk out. In the next few months, we will gradually settle in this new place, find a new school, meet new people and make new goals. But today, as I was going through my photo albums, I found images captured towards the end of our previous tenure and thought of sharing them here.

1. Missing the green views of tea gardens sprawled about us, covering the blue hills like plush quilts.

2. Remembering how the clouds tumbled down the adjoining hills to the lush green grass of the golf course, amid a pleasant drizzle.

3. Wish I could again have a window in my home that showed me the above view, of clouds surfing deep down the valley beneath the hill on which my home was, while I sipped my ultra delicious lemon-black pepper tea. Ahhh! Those were the days..

4. Also close to my heart are the many intermittent 3 day breaks during the year gone by when we explored South India. The picture above was taken at Dhanushkodi where Coco enjoyed playing in the sand and splashing in sea-water to his heart's content. Fun fact about this pic: He is standing at the land's end with his face towards Sri-Lanka. 

   

5. There is almost no chance that I can witness the sun setting beyond the hills of Ooty from my home again.

6. Holed up in a guest house during long summer days, while all my craft supplies are packed away in trunks along with the rest of my household things, all I dream of these days is how I will dance with joy when I will access them again. I can also be found watching entire seasons of  old comedy series (repeating for 10th time probably), sleeping for hours and lost in crafty dreams. 

7. A lot of those crafty daydreams include the plans of how I will make a neat and cozy space for my crafts in my new home. However these plans are highly dependent on what kind of house do we get and when. Above is a shot of the tiny corner where I sat and made some of my jewellery. Cute, isn't it?

8. One of the best things that we as a family experienced and loved here is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway aka the toy train that courses through the hills amid sprawling green tea gardens. The trips were planned to please Coco, though, it must be clear that we enjoyed it with equal joy, our hearts springing with each new wonderful view as we watched left and right.

9. While the entire tenure was about scenic beauty, picnics, outdoor barbecues and hikes, this particular bike ride-cum-hike to Pristine Valley near Ooty was a memorable one. It was fun, beautiful, adventurous, dangerous and tiresome, all at the same time, with Coco's father throwing his phone in the water for the umpteenth time, an incident that will be the told and retold for years henceforth, each time increasing in comical value.

10. Memories of blue hills can never be complete without missing each of my friends that I made here, and I made friends by dozens. A very small number considering the fact that the hills housed almost 400 of us. Here, some of them are seen pondering over deep questions that I threw at them. Don't go by this picture, each one of them is quite a fireball by herself. This morning of potluck breakfast and a mean game of Housie is etched in each of our memories. High five girls!

Obviously I am missing all this and much more, I am also looking forward to the days, months and years we are about to spend in this happening new place. A move is something that I am always okay with because this is one of the many things that I love about being an army wife. It keeps me engaged and interested, with ever changing scenes and scenarios. After all, change is the only constant in life, ain't it?!  

Picking Up Threads

Hello wonderful people,

After months of absence, I am back to blogland. No matter what I do, it never leaves my mind and always pulls me back. Whether I am mommying, crafting or holidaying, I always click pictures suitable to go on here. 

So, when Coco and his best friend (Let's call him Guru) came back from fancy dress competition in school and presented themselves for a photoshoot, I clicked a few shots to show to you. In the above picture, Coco is dressed as a pineapple and Guru as a traffic signal, because they insisted on being dressed so. Coco and Guru spend a lot of time together at school and home, eating and playing together, sometimes falling asleep in each other's home. They even exchange clothes when certain needs arise. Hence, Coco and Guru are true 'Chuddy Buddies'.

Meanwhile, life in Nilgiris is running fast paced. Dozens of things to do divide my time into such small fragments that I sometimes feel the day should be 48 hours long. So I prioritise my tasks, mostly ignoring housework, taking up the most interesting things first. As it is housework seems to be never ending, one thing leading to another, never leaving you free to pursue your own interests. Sometimes, I literally have to look for little pockets of time to do what I love most, because if I do not do it, my day seems worthless. 

And by now, you must be very well aware that I love crafts. So, after dropping Coco to school, I come back home, put evergreen hits on TV, and sit in front of it with my breakfast and my craft supplies. Then it is only me and my songs and crafts, till it is almost 12 o'clock, when I get ready, prepare lunch and bring Coco from school. In these few hours of the morning, when usually no one disturbs me, I do most of my intense work. 

Though, on days when Coco is at home, the routine is almost the same, only difference being him asking questions at the rate of  a million questions per hour or asking to 'share' some of my stuff. So much for teaching him 'sharing is caring'!   

Between all the mad rush of days, we take out time to explore the lovely hills, tea estates and picnic spots in and around the town. Though I still miss my previous 'forest resort' home in Himalayan foothills, it is apt to say that I am happy here, happy to be close to hills, happy to have a pleasant weather when North is shivering under foggy blankets, happy to see clouds descending down to enter my windows and rushing out the next moment to uncover the bright green tea gardens.  

The knowledge that the tenure at this lovely place is ending, and soon we will leave the salubrious climes to settle in some dusty industrial town, is also a reason why my affection with Nilgiris is growing, making me want to stay longer and absorb the beautiful feeling of being in the Nilgiris as much as possible.

Lost In Pink!

                                        

Finally! These roses are here. I have already talked about them in this post. Blooming away to glory, waving their tiny faces at me whenever I peek out the door, which I do a lot these days. Reading newspaper? Peek out the door for a second. Cooking? Ah, lets take a 5 second break to peek out. Just being lazy? Get up and peek out the door. My love is here. These pink bundles of sheer sensory pleasure, that make me want to dance every single time I see them. I am possessed by them.

When I first gave a nod to move into my current house, the biggest reason were four wild rose shrubs planted in the garden of the house. They had been in my short list of 'must have in life' since always. We moved in here late in April 2014 and by then, the flowering season had already gone. I admired the last few receding flowers longingly and impatiently waited for the next year. But I was very disappointed to note that I had to be out of town for a couple of months just as the first buds started to blossom. I was crestfallen. It meant I would not be able to see the flowers in full bloom, because we were scheduled to move in December.

Anyways, I got a few cuttings prepared during the rainy season. I just could not bear to part with this love of my life, now that fate had brought us together in such a dramatic manner. But there was more than cuttings in store for me. It turned out that we were staying here for a few more months. This meant that I could finally see the roses blossoming in their full glory. Hearing this news all I could think of was Paulo Coelho:

                

                        When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

So here I am, feasting my senses on the gorgeous bunches of wild roses. For those of you who were wondering why I was not writing anything, I was very busy in loving these rose bushes, among other things. I even refused a long trip to God's own country because I feared I would miss God's own flowers, just in case they decide to blossom early.  

Even Google knows my deep love for these. It styled this picture for me. In love!!

Making Home..Bit By Bit

                         
(Theme 1)

The lazy woman is a management professional and managing is what she has managed to do all her life. Seriously, I think I can manage various kinds of activities simultaneously. I do not multitask, but I switch to different tasks because my attention span is small, I get bored easily and my hobby/activity spectrum is wide. So I like to include various things in a day, like cooking, crafting, daydreaming etc to stay cheerful. But there are areas where I do not like to venture as I know I am lousy there. Though I would love to plan my day, or organize my home, these jobs are mostly left to the elements or outsourced. Though I keep planning great things but hardly ever get to their execution. The biggest change that I need in my life is to move on from planning and arrive at organizing, speaking in management terminology.

It has been well over a year since we moved in this house and even now I feel like there is so much left to be done, mostly because certain areas in my home are not organized to my satisfaction. But I do not know where to begin. So when I came across an article on rewardme.in, named 5 Areas You Should Always Keep Organized in home section, I went through it immediately and found it kind of answers my question. To begin with, I could clearly name a few areas of my own home which need my time. Great beginning!

Of the five areas mentioned in the article, three are clearly my problem areas. My kitchen, my closet and my bedroom. The kitchen of my current home is much bigger than standard army kitchens but somehow it is always out of control. The containers and small objects usually do not stay in their designated place after a while. So whenever I intend to beautify my kitchen, these objects take all my time and efforts and I run out of my enthusiasm to address the real problems. When monthly ration comes, I have to work hard to find a place to keep those items. I have realized, as the said article also mentions that one needs to devote a few minutes daily to maintain things in order. And separate bins are on their way to my kitchen too.

The idea of an organised closet feels like an impossibility to me, more so after Coco came into my life. I find myself every other day sitting in front of his little almirah, folding and arranging his colourful little tees and shorts, pajamas and socks and love doing it. But finding time to do this to my own clothes looks like a fabulous dream. A friend gave me great tips on organizing closet and time management. In combination with the tips from this article, these few tips have changed a lot about my closet. She told me she does not take out separate time for her closet, rather she barge-opens the doors and just starts working. I followed her tip and now I am halfway through organizing my clothes, that too according to colour, as suggested in the article. This has also helped me see that pre-baby era clothes were taking up more than half of the space (and making me feel nostalgic...and fat!), and I never found anything good to wear. Now I have freed all that precious space and gradually filling it up with 'only what makes you look and feel fabulous' as the article says, and which is my new closet mantra. 

After this initial success at organizing two big problem areas, my morale is high and I have also realized that an organized closet is the key to an organized bedroom in my case, as most of my overflowing closet items are dumped on bedroom furniture. All that taken care of, I am now left with a big almirah full of craft supplies and various odd bits and scraps, medicines and cosmetics, mostly kept there out of Coco's reach, along with my gazillion bangles and junk jewelry lying in various states of clutter (above? Not mine.) Sorting and organizing it is going to be my next project.

Falling in line!

As I am feeling really good now and way more comfortable, I am also noticing that I am an organized person at heart, have always been this way. Plus all the visits to rewardme.in have been truly rewarding! See the proof to my new-found love of organizing in the above picture. :)

I am participating in the ‘Ready For Rewards’ activity for Rewardme in association with BlogAdda.

Together We Are..

We humans are a strange lot. We seek some time to ourselves and as soon as this wish is fulfilled, we again look for some human contact, sweet and kind words, soft touch and togetherness. Overall, neither do we want to stay alone altogether, nor do we welcome company at all times. But for a family, spending some time together, relaxing, chatting and laughing is not only a most desirable idea, it is also a necessary exercise in building up certain bases in kids.

I have mentioned many times how I spent most of my winter days in the lawn, enjoying the warmth of bright sunshine, sitting in a bean bag, with a cup of tea and some craft, while Coco played nearby, running, cycling, jumping etc. Sometimes, in the middle of it all he would come to me and ask 'Where is Papa?' in his sweet baby voice. Now, his father has a busy work schedule, and more often than not, Coco is not even up when he leaves for work. So answering this question becomes even more difficult for me. Though I try to keep the answer a straightforward 'He went to office,' which may cause a further request of a bike ride or so.

So, when his father was free for almost a week this winter, I was hugely relieved and all we did was spend nearly all of our daytime together in the lawn, including having our daytime meals there itself. On weekdays, lawn chairs would be placed in the lawn and the guys would hit their spot as soon as sunlight fell on them. While his father would mostly be updating himself with latest news or would be reading a thick book for his upcoming exams, I took out 'Gone With The Wind' from my dog eared books collection and set out to re-read it. The first time I read it was almost 6 years ago, and reading it again was a huge dose of sheer pleasure, that too, sitting together with family in warm sunshine, interspersed with random chit-chat and hot cups of tea. This time I was reading and ruminating over every single sentence, like one would steep a tea bag a wee bit longer to get maximum flavor. And, to say the least, re-visiting this book was like I was meeting an old friend, long lost in childhood.

They say that charity begins at home. Yes, it all begins at home indeed. Coco, who would always treat his books like toys, brought a book out on this particular day, when he saw both his parents immersed in reading, pulled out his little red chair and promptly placed it between ours and sat and actually read his book. It was a joy to see him reading, and the parents immediately took a break to click his studious stance. 

Sometimes, Coco would just want to play in the grass and we utilized this opportunity to pull out the weeds growing on the floor, killing the grass. We would pull out fists full of this clover like weed and Coco would enjoy tossing it in the air, spreading it all across in the garden, on chairs, on my clothes and his dad's, in his hair.. 

Then he would grow tired and would look for a new game. By then his father would also be in need of a break, so they both would decide to play catch, with no rules and regulations whatsoever, and Coco would come and catch me who would be reading, instead of his dad calling out to him.

In between, we used to have our breakfasts and lunches, setting up table in the lawn itself, inviting friends over on weekends, to extend this togetherness to more people and make it merrier and most importantly to create memories of happy times.

 Spending entire days like this, out on the lawn in sunshine, was indeed a treat for us this winter. Especially so in an army household, where such peaceful and relaxed times are a luxury.

Written as a post for the prompt 'Together'  for https://housing.com/ins://