These days........

The days have been rather busy. They have been whizzing by at top speed. And, suddenly, why has this been happening? All I can think of is work and more and more of it. I am engulfed by a host of engagements that have been keeping me occupied. My French assignments, more and more of practice work and even at the home front,things haven't really been running smooth. There has been no help for almost more than a week now. And cooking has been taking up all of my evenings. I am not complaining but the feeling of breathlessness cannot be ignored. I have been so used to the evenings, the tea sessions, the me and only me times, the luxury of being able to do what I love doing; all these seem to have taken a backseat at the moment. And then comes the Friday evening! What a relief! Finally there is some time for myself. Saturday means no class, no waking up early, the luxury of spending some more time in bed, the luxury of having a late breakfast and endless cups of chai! Well, I have another 'grand' luxury....of having a cuppa brewed by the husband! And he

chai ho jaaye? Anytime!

is good at this! The mid morning tea session, of tea prepared by the husband, of having company while we sip our tea in a leisurely way....ahaaa! How wonderfully blissful life can be!

This is home to me. Every minute spent here is wonderful. Togetherness binds our home. Time spent doing all things we love to do, no matter how trivial they are, is something we look forward to. These days are all about cooking. I had to cook for the family out of compulsion. But I felt completely satisfied with all the culinary experiments, the planning of the meals, executing them my way and the praises at the outcome. In the process, I realised how cooking meals can be a full time occupation. Our mothers used to do this so wonderfully and with élan! Each time they dished out such delightful treats. I was super happy with my easy-peasy capsicum rice, the childhood egg curry, paratha with ajwain, pasta with broccoli,etc,etc. The dal chawal turned out super duper tasty! Simple meals but prepared with so much love and care :-).....no wonder they taste so good!

And a bit of 'Home-love' added to the super busy days, made them worth all the rush. My love for home accessories is quite a known fact amongst my family and friends. So when I came across these pretty little wood and metal knick knacks, I knew that I must have them. A little 'home' in white accompanied by another little 'love' in red came home to me this evening. And these two triggered my blog post today! It's a wonderful feeling. Home-Love. two most beautiful words and meaning the world to me.... I wanted to express myself when I looked at these two pretty things; take some time out of the busy schedule and write anything that came to my mind. After all this is the space where I express myself.....

I love colours.....they give me the motivation to carry on with a smile in spite of the super busy days......

Loved the cartoons....a favourite pastime of the young man at home.....

the joys of simple meals......

some pasta with broccoli.........

a combination of egg curry with paratha.....something  we used to gorge on as kids.......

and now time for some capsicum rice....recipe courtesy a friend.......:-)

And while I put together this post, the feeling of gratitude and thankfulness engulfs me. I have enough reasons to be grateful and thankful in my life. I have this beautiful world of mine, people who mean the world to me, they are my reasons to smile and enjoy life, my reasons to stride over all obstacles and make life worth living.....while the west celebrates this thanksgiving season, I feel thankful for every single day....

Home-Love........beautiful words, aren't they?