Life is all about the little things!
Dear Readers,
I have been in my hometown for over a week now and it feels like the days here pass by in a jiffy. My mornings start as early as 5:30 am and I get a list of things done before starting work. A refreshing long walk in the morning, an hour gardening, scrumptious home-cooked breakfast and a cup of my favourite Sulaimani Tea. Bliss!
Here are some random activities that I enjoyed this week before it started raining crazy!
Forest in our Backyard
Our hometown visits usually start with cleaning. Cleaning the house, the front yard, the terrace, the stairs and the backyard. The backyard, this time was particularly a challenge. The rains here started early in May and continues to pour as I write this post. The abundance of rain with fertile land and no human intervention has transformed our backyard into a mini forest.
Last weekend we gloved up and started working on it one patch at a time. Surprisingly, we found a variety of plants that were sowed by birds and rodents (unintentionally of course) and some dropped by generous neighbouring trees. There are pineapple shoots, custard apple, two full-grown papaya trees, beetle leaf creepers, pepper, curry leaf trees, Tulsi, Colocasia, ginger, turmeric, mango sapling, jackfruit sapling and what not. A variety of flowering plants spread out in random fashion needed a thorough trim too. We pulled out the weeds, uprooted some dead plants and replanted good ones that weren’t getting enough light.
We also sowed some vegetables and shoots in the patch we cleared. It looks great now.
Finding an old traditional game
While cleaning the house we found this game that I had forgotten about for over a decade. I remember adding Manjadi Kuru seeds to this and playing this traditional game with my cousins during hot summer afternoons. Do you know what it’s called?
Experiments with Food
We made many colourful teas with the hibiscus and aloe-weed flowers we found. I am in love with the colours. Did you know that hibiscus tea has a cranberry-like taste? Also, the aloe-weed tea has a beautiful blue shade which transforms into a deep purple on adding a few drops of lime juice.
All for Momos!
My husband and I were craving momos all week long. We drove to every momo place in the city one night. Some were closed, some had no parking and one place did not have any veg momos left! We returned home and ordered some Paneer Veg momos from this little place called Bites Kati Zone on Zomato. We weren’t disappointed.
Four Winds and a Dark TV series
Kristin Hannah’s writing has been an addiction for most of 2020 and 2021. It started with The Nightingale which I think is brilliant! I have also read The Magic Hour and Comfort and Joy. Four Winds her latest is long, depressing at certain places but overall a great read. I loved the characters, the realistic descriptions and of course the simple yet elegant language. I finally completed this long, inspiring story yesterday and cannot stop thinking about it.
Midnight Mass – a Dark Netflix series that has been drawing my attention ever since it was released late last month. I love reading crisp, dark, short stories but not up for several hours of gross, ghastly, bloody (I don’t have a better word) episodes. The making was great. Suspense at all the right places made me want to watch till the end. The underlying message about blind faith, religious fanatism and human desperation for immortality was nicely portrayed. Not recommending this to the faint-hearted.
Snails Everywhere!
Not an activity. Just curious to know.
It looks like my hometown has suddenly become home to snails – big and small. I see these little (some really big), harmless creatures everywhere. Literally. Any idea where they come from? And how are they managing to spread out and get everywhere… given their speed?
Monday Blues got worse!
Also, the Monday this week got bluer for many when Whatsapp, Insta and Facebook were down for a couple of hours. Is it odd that I only realised it the next day? I am unable to recall why I was away from the phone for so long that day. This post from Inkology brought a smile to my face. Our brain getting addicted to dopamine/social media/ digital drugs is a real thing. Stay safe.
What fun activities have you been enjoying lately? Tell me in the comments below.
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Love,
Ashwini
You can connect with me on:
- Instagram: ashwinishenoym
- Facebook: AuthorAshwiniShenoy
You can buy my books here:
- Shikhandini – Warrior Princess of the Mahabharata (ebook and paperback)
- Those Girls – A Tale of Perspectives (ebook)
