month of sravnaa and me

These days I have got a passion to save the Haryanvi culture.

source: सावन स्पेशल - झूला झुलु बाग़  में   Sawan Ke Geet |   Vidhya Tanwar Kalpn..

Gardening is my respite from all things stressfull!

My Jatropha in recycled pot it’s a mosaic work on old discarded plastic bucket 

This past week it reached a little over 36 degrees here! I didn't have to switch on the fan while sitting in my balcony/front yard and the sun was shining. It was awesome!

It definitely got me in the mood for some monsoon decorating so I have to clip

 some of my Jatropha flower branches. 

My Jatropha touching the sky sitting in the balcony

Then I cut some of my jatropa flowers and pinwheel (chmeli) flowers, put water in mini glass bottle and terra cota vase and placed the flower in it and put the vase  on the table beside me. Jatropha are fabulous for cut flowers(as I think), they last really a long time and are so colourful. I have Spice variety of Jatropha growing in my front yard  and it is wonderful feeling cutting one’s own for table arrangements. 

Although this arrangement in mini bottle is placed in my niche. OK!

THE WALK

Yesterday I got up little late and while going out in the chilled front yard to stretch out in the open as it was late for my walk time. On seeing that all the flowers of my  Chameli plant were fallen on the ground. It was not unusual They bloom in the night and fall in the early morning. The white flowers are spread like a bed of flowers.

 Vita_Sackville-West,of Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden the erudite English gardener (who became famous for her White Garden in her estate, Sissinghurst)  said it best,

"White flowers are anathema to all but the oldest and most sophisticated of gardeners."

...so there you go! I must be very classy because I fancy white pansies,white euphoria  white lilies and white roses.

This is a very sly way of saying that if you like white flowers you are are so cultured and tasetful.

Such a serene white bed of blooms, it made my heart squeeze. I couldn't resist picking them on the newspaper in my hands and bringing them all indoors to float on the water in newly painted clay pot. It makes me so happy to see it there sipping outside in the morning into the cold, fresh, fragrant laden air with, lots of medicinal plants. Spending a few serene and quiet moments with my face turned up to the sky most of the time through the tree twigs, breathing in the fragrant chilled air, st airing the far away star for “Trāṭaka ”.Such a glorous blue sky then fire like patches of rising sun...again blue with white tints. Then I remember my morning ritual of lighting The Diya of pure Ghee  How short our days are becoming.....and today was the smallest day of the year..the 22^nd  of December, I used to open the window set aside the curtains welcome THE SUN in my room. So now, it is my time to smell Jasmine flowers, I wish all of you could share my happiness too. 

So now, it is my time to smell Jasmine (Chameli )flowers, I wish all of you could share my happiness too.

Happy Gardening!!!

Wordless Wednesday

  आज मेरे आँगन से कुछ सफेद फूल मेरे साथ घर के भीतर चले आए।
काँच के फूलदान में सजे तो लगा, जैसे श्वेत तितलियाँ ठहर गई हों.....

काँच के फूलदान में सजे 

सफेद फूल

मनकों से भरे कांच के फूलदान में 

 

इन फूलों की एक छोटी-सी कहानी है…

वर्षों से मेरे घर में यह पौधा खिला रहा है।

मैंने किताबों में खोजा, इंटरनेट पर ढूँढ़ा, अनेक चित्रों से मिलान किया, फिर भी आज तक इसका नाम निश्चित नहीं कर पाई।

शायद हर सुंदर चीज़ का परिचय उसका नाम नहीं होता।

कभी-कभी उसकी उपस्थिति ही पर्याप्त होती है।

क्या आप इस फूल को पहचानते हैं?

 शब्बा खैर!!!

Paisley in my house...........

I spent ages looking around for Paisley  inspiration for a cushion cover I was making to paint with fabric colors.

 

I was on a mission to shop for my fabric stash since long. I am still working on the mission….one day I noticed that most of the fabrics I bought contained paisleys…not only that I noticed that there are lots of paisley designs on my bed sheets/ cushions/shawls/ even on greeting cards contained paisley design on them. Today, I thought I’d  take a little look at paisley—it’s an Indian design named for Scottish town. Stay tuned a little later for my paisley round-up!

 

 The pillow in Above two photos were what i found on my couch.....

And these were on a wedding card........

Paisley Inspired by Nature

There are many theories as to the genesis of the paisley pattern. One theory is that it originated in ancient Babylon and took its inspiration from the growing shoot of the date palm. For ancient Babylonians, the date palm represented the tree of life – the palm was the source of their food, wine, thatch, wood, paper and string and represented prosperity and plenty. The motif spread from Babylon to India where it was incorporated into all types of design.

From India to Europe via the East India Company
The East India Company had the monopoly on delivering luxury goods to Britain from the East. The Kashmir shawl, so highly prized that it was often the gift of choice for nobility, was quickly appreciated  by officers in the East India Company. So taken with the quality of the wool (cashmere), those officers began to bring a few shawls back to Britain as gifts. The Kashmir shawl quickly became all the rage. The shawl became firmly cemented as a fashionable item when Empress Josephine in France began wearing them as a compliment to her “antique style” of dress. Josephine was said to have owned hundreds of shawls. Everyone wanted one of these rare Kashmir shawls but at Rs 10000-25000 it was certainly not something everyone could afford.

It’s all in the Materials – Kashmir

British textile manufactures seized the opportunity to reproduce these Kashmir shawls. The real hurdle was in creating a shawl that had the same feel as Kashmir. The Himalayan goat produced an underfleece to protect it from the intense cold – this under fleece (known as pashmina) was shed every summer and would be collected from rocks and bushes. The higher in the mountain, the better quality the fleece would be. To supplement this limited supply, domesticated goats were also raised for their fleece but even these goats produced only two pounds of down each year (which could be used to weave one 4 foot by 6 inch shawl). The earliest British imitations were priced at £20 and were made mainly of silk.

CLICK HERE and HERE for more about Paisley!

My today’s creation with Chameli

The day is still young, but I already feel so much better having worked with Chameli   (Yes this is named as Jasmine too) , who enticed me with his scent to play....for Jasmine is known to be the King of Flowers.

 

here is a Hindi song with chameliiiiiiii the King of Flowers. 

Have a good day!!!!!!!!!!!