The Best Christmas Gift Ever!!

Today is Christmas Eve and kids were eagerly waiting for me to come home soon...'cause they wanted me to go for shopping and get some Christmas gifts for them. I was terribly stuck with my work ....and they kept calling me again and again. But by 4pm, they realized that I was not going to come anytime soon, my younger one took my husband for shopping..she had a full list of items to buy for herself and for everyone :-). And my husband had no clue what she was buying...and elder one was home... ready with her surprise gifts for all. 

When I came home, she handed over three small packets and asked me to guess what was in it. All I could guess was some writeup, portraying our characters to make us happy. I waited until my husband and younger one came home. The gifts looked small, but she surprised all of us with her beautiful thoughts, each one written neatly in the form of coupons that we could redeem. 

 And her conditions are: we can redeem these coupons after Christmas and they expire by Feb 1st 2016 :-). 

These are the set of coupons I got:

• Help Clean
• Help Garden
• Foot Massage
• Head Massage
• Hang Clothes
• Fold Clothes
• Cook coupon

Each one came with multiple coupons, but I was looking for more Head massage coupons, and to my surprise, she left an option for that one too, I got 4 Blank Coupons that I can redeem for whatever I want, she made me happy again :-).

And these coupons are for my husband :-)

And these are for our little one. We were all surprised to see the target list :-)

Now I can't wait to redeem my coupons during Holiday season....

Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Gardening - part 3 - Joy multiplies with gardening

This Janmashtami was very special as all the flowers and leaves offered to God were from my garden. Happy to see the big smile on my mother's face when she was counting the variety of flowers offered to God. Maa khush, Bhagavan khush aur mai bhi khush :-).

More than that, Pujaris from the nearby Balaji temple requested permission to take Tulasi leaves from my Tulasi vanam...  what else do I need to make this Janmashtami a very special occasion.

I started with a single Tulasi plant that my mother gave me last year and then spread the seeds in the garden. I couldn't believe the bumper yield....hundreds of Tulasi plants asking me to take care of them. Here is a collage of before and after pics of my front yard...my beautiful Tulasi vanam.

Few months back, I started with few chrysanthemum plants, and now they are blooming in different colors...

And two banana saplings to eight..

 And other decorative variety...it's fun to split and spread the plants for new and better growth...

 

The following variety is a big surprise....the plant I got died after few months. But the seeds have spread without my knowledge and new saplings came on their own..a surprise gift of resurrection ;-)

And few extended their life through leaves...

This is one of my favorite blog post as it is full of life. Hope everyone could spread and enjoy God's beauty through Gardening.

Gardening - part 2 - Terrace garden

I always wanted to have a little garden area next to our family lounge... a place to relax tired eyes and escape to enjoy the fresh air, drizzles to drenching rains and the shining stars on clear nights. Here are few pics of our terrace garden taken during yesterday's rains in Bangalore....my beautiful dream turned into reality :-)

Before constructing our house, I had few requirements in mind for our terrace garden:
- A Rock garden with water fountain for a surreal appeal
- Plants that require less maintenance and water
- Tiles that give a natural look... especially black flooring (settled with Cuddapah black limestone)
- Big pots on the wall to keep the floor area clean and empty, which will, at the same time, retain the feel of greenery
- Open ceiling to see the stars
- Small pergola to hide from the heavy rains and hot sun, and enjoy a cup of coffee or a cold drink under its shade
- A Windchime for that pleasant feel
- Hanging lights for nice chats at night
- Water lilies to provide ambience
- Couple of traditional rope cots to relax under the night sky (the only pending item :-))
- Wooden sofa or wooden chairs with coffee table

Before jumping into making of my terrace garden, few pics of the blooming flowers....

Now coming to the creation of the terrace garden....:-)

A lot has gone into planning....I still remember those sleepless nights...drawing designs in my dreams... going back and forth with design changes to the architect.... deciding on the right elements... visiting plenty of shops to procure the right and reasonable material...etc..etc..

Each step executed as per the plan in mind and on paper:

Step 1: As it is a terrace garden, extra caution has been taken to prevent water leakage. The entire floor has been water proofed twice to prevent ingress of water.

Step 2: After the design was finalized, a granite stone hedge was made for the rock garden.

Step 3:Tile work for the rest of the area was completed using Cuddapah black limestone....my #1 choice :-)

Step 4: Metal Fabrication work was done to hold the big pots on both the sides of the parapet wall and also for the Pergola. After that, glass work was completed for the pergola roof.

Step 5: I was very picky regarding the colour of the pots...I wanted  them to be of black and white texture. We almost finalized purchasing fibre pots in the Lalbagh nursery mela of Bangalore. But we were not sure about their durability in a terrace garden. So, we decided to go with concrete pots...but big question....how about black and white texture? Do I need to settle with terracotta or natural concrete coloured pots?

I was a bit frustrated on the way back home, but a glance at the beautiful decorative pieces near JD Mara bus stop captured my eyes. I had a long conversation with the street side sellers and convinced them to do this color texture for me.. it costed a bit more than expected, but I was happy to get what I wanted :-).

Step 6: With almost all the prerequisites complete for the terrace garden, we took the help of an experienced gardener to buy the right kinds of plants that require less water and minimal maintenance. Spent more than two days roaming on the streets of Lalbgh Siddapur area. After the plants landed at home, the garden work started in a couple of days.

Step 7: A layer of jelly(crushed stone) was laid first and then a portable water fountain which we got from Pune was placed.

Step 8: After that, the gardener laid red soil and natural rocks. We had a hard time finding those rocks :-(. With a tip from our neighbours, we got some from nearby Jigani quarries. I still remember the pain we had gone though to find the rocks and then load and unload them to make them reach their destination.

Step 9: With the plants making their way into the rock garden, I could see my dreams taking shape....some of the beautiful moments of constructing a house.

Step 10: After the terrace garden work was complete, the next item in the list was to enjoy it :-). We visited many places in Bangalore to find out the right garden chairs, but finally settled with a design from Bombay. We ordered them from a vendor and got them delivered in a week.

Step 11: The last and the most important step was the LIGHTS ...HANGING LIGHTS :-). Gosh...only God knows how many shops we stepped in to find the right choice. After almost two weeks of rigorous search, we finalized them from a shop in the BVK Iyengar street of Bangalore. And here is our garden with windchimes dancing to the rhythms of the wind and making us aware of its presence... 

 

This is the story of our Terrace garden....lots of lessons learnt through its making :-)

Gardening - Part 1 : My budding garden

First of all HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY!!

Today I would like to pen down few words about my very best friend - my beautiful garden. A GARDEN is Nature's temple that provides exercise for the BODY, meditation for the MIND and satisfaction for the SOUL... I must say, it's a three-in-one package.

Few years back, when we were in an apartment, my garden was limited to pots....

                   

When we moved to a rented house, it got extended to an empty place outside the compound wall....

             

And when it was time to build our own house, spent an enormous amount of time to find plenty of space for my friend...my DEAREST friend. Big dreams for my friend came to reality with the construction of our home in the outskirts of Bangalore.. far from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Creating the base for our garden was not an easy task, it needed a concrete cleanup, anti-termite treatment, red soil fill up and what not.... It took two months to settle down before I could put my hands to shape up the garden.

                     

It took a few trips to Lalbagh and Siddhapur to find out the best plants for Bangalore's weather and to kick start the beautiful journey.

                 

                 

 And I watched nature give birth to few seedlings at home...

        

                       

 Making the garden green is not an easy job...it requires finding the right spot for each plant, replanting if required to find suitable conditions, changing the mud, adding manure, preparing organic pesticide to keep the bugs away, watering, pruning etc...etc...But gardening is addictive and time just flies in its company.  And it's a good excuse to breathe fresh air and get some exercise :-).

Here's proudly presenting few pics of my garden ....

 

This is the journey of my vegetable garden over a period of 5 months....

On one side it's a vegetable garden and on the other side is a beauty behind thorns...

But it's worth the pain to see the beautiful smiles looking at me with joy...

 

Not just roses, the other flowers also take part in the beauty competition..

 

Gardening gives me an opportunity to interact with other living beings in nature...don't miss the video of the caterpillar munching on some greens and the cute kitten attacking my hand (or at least trying to) :-)

 

So much joy to be part of such a beautiful journey of life. For now, ending the post with a wonderful message...