Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Sweet nothings

Hello everyone? How's the week treating you? It's mid-week already. Days seem to be whizzing past. Every morning I wake up with the resolution to complete at least a few from my to-do list of chores. I have a long, long list of pending work that need immediate attention but alas! I keep postponing them time and again! My break would soon get over and I would again be back to square one, waiting for the next break to come; promising myself and of course the men at home that I shall complete every single pending task then! At this point of time I am remembering my mother's saying; 'never keep any work pending! Do them immediately. All that you don't like must be done promptly! Tomorrow's work should be done today.' Well, mother practised it, tried teaching her children,too. But this one ( read Madame Choudhury here) didn't learn it at all! So she keeps on piling up work, and all kinds of it, urgent, not so urgent,important, all kinds!

But then, what do I do or not do for that matter,that keeps me so engrossed? I will strongly protest if anyone at home calls me lazy! Well, I am most certainly not lazy!! A bit of a fussy person, though, someone who suffers from OCD according to the men at home. So they are quite used to seeing the lady ruffling up the cushions, even if they are arranged neatly; straightening up the painting on the wall or trying to wipe away some unseen dust ( as they say, but to me, there is some dust settling down always! ). The balcony garden is another obsession. I know, I lament and I complain that I do not have the luxury of a proper garden. But whatever I have, I try to use up the space to its optimum and I tell you, this is no mean job! 

So, then, going back to the title of this post, 'Sweet nothings',is all about my days now, days as I spend them doing things that interest me. To the men at home, these are all meaningless work, if I may call them work, that need not be done at all! At least a few of them are certainly most meaningless to them! But some 'nothings' can be really sweet :-).... 

Every now and then I have been rushing to the balcony to check on my Plumeria! She was quite ill the last few months when she lost all her leaves. She needed a lot of sun and a change of place to bring her back to health. And here you can see her! She is still without leaves but I can see her with all those buds!! Doesn't she look pretty? Wait, till you see her in all her prettiness in a few days :-).....
Baking happens to be another 'like' of mine! And with some time to myself, I have been trying out all kinds of goodies. I love that smile on my people's face, specially the younger one! And of course, that absolutely divine aroma of freshly baked brownies and muffins that fill up the home! Trying to organize all kinds of things in the most practical way at home is a real challenge to the all-time hoarder! Hence, the need to accommodate them is no easy task. All these do take up time, right? :-D..
And I managed to make a quick trip to the Chitrakala Parishad. The Sampoorn Santhe was pretty good. I grabbed a few things,too, mainly plants and a few gifts for friends :-)...retail therapy has its own charm,isn't it? These flea markets are full of handmade artifacts and I always have a soft corner for such things. A visit to The Chalk Boutique,too, was long overdue! Such prettiness you get to see there! It's like leaving me inside the robbers' cave like Ali Baba! And I don't know what to pick up and what to leave behind!

My 'sweet nothings' give me immense happiness; those small things in life that make one so full of contentment. Yes, the more important chores are left incomplete at times for these bits of happiness only to be picked up later and completed with renewed vigour. My 'sweet nothings' are like those cubes of sugar to be had in times of tiredness and then they give you the energy to run around! Do you, too, experience these sugar pangs of sweet nothings? I would love to hear from you:-).....
My Champa or Plumeria preparing herself for a flower shower very soon!

Obsessive Cupcake Disorder


A lot can happen over a cup of chai!

My 'book-worm' side table !

And a bit of 'blog-time',too!

 We have some new visitors :-) ....All huddled together while I try to make space for them!

brownie time!

trying to be a bit organized!

The Chalk Boutique

Some more from The Chalk Boutique

before and after

Monday, March 2, 2015

In harmony.....

'Take life with a pinch of salt....a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila', so says the good living guide! And I am in total agreement with this fun phrase! A plaque with these words dangles from a hook in the corner of the dining area. Each time my eyes set on this, I cannot help reflecting how true these words are. After completing 21 years of togetherness,life has taught us many a lesson. It feels glorious to be together in the journey of life. My partner cum co-passenger has been good to me. He has made several adjustments to make me sit comfortably! And I presume that, I, too, have! A milestone achieved and hopefully by the divine grace, many more to come, all I would wish for is a safe journey, being with each other all along this beautiful course. Let us keep growing together, ageing together and experiencing the emotions of life together. Be it 'together' always :-)......as being together is a means of being happy in my case.

This was a post meant to be posted on my blog on the 27th of February but for some reason I did not do so. Maybe because I wanted to cling on to that special date even after it had passed and keep the spirit of our anniversary alive and running even after the 'D' date! Maybe because I wanted to experience how it felt after that day was over and made place for the next day. And I must say that it feels good to relive that special day even after it had actually gone by. So here comes this very short post, rather a reflection of the self, two days after. Counting my blessings these days, I have been trying to lap up every little happiness that I can find around me. Happiness is certainly infectious! A happy me makes for a happy home and hence happiness all around. 

Folks, I would love to hear about your happiness quotient, your reflections on happiness and what makes for a happy surrounding. So, do share your thoughts with me here. Leaving you to mull over this and make yourself as happy, satisfied and contented you can.
Flowers on the special day is a must and I gifted myself some of my favourite ones!

And chai, too, a special Darjeeling variety for the special day!

Well, for this very pretty 'you and me', I need to thank The Chalk Boutique! They let me click this one :-)...after all, 'you and me' are the the two special characters :-)

And here it is! The punch line of life!