my front yard

this is my front yard retreat

this is the place where I listen to the birds singing,

where I watch the wind play with the green leaves of the majestic trees, if I take the name,papri ,neem ,shisham, bad, bakain, champa, (hindi names)they all are in our front parkand visible sitting in our  frpnt yard.

xoxo

 

last verse of chapter 3 of BG, Before & after

एवं बुद्धे: परं बुद्ध्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना |
जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम् || 43||

BG 3.43: Thus knowing the soul to be superior to the material intellect, O mighty armed Arjun, subdue the self (senses, mind, and intellect) by the self (strength of the soul), and kill this formidable enemy called lust.


Before renovation of our house 

both of them posing against our kitchen wall now this is store room the boundery wall of backyard is visible, this backyard (3/4th part is our kitchen and dining now) 

My daughter and niece (my sis's daughter)

 My niece(brother's daughter) is posing at the same place my daughter and niece were in the above pic.

10.28.2011

 My daughter is posing in front of our renoveted house's kitchen and dining area.

10.28.2011


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my niece, my son

photo snapped by subo daas is Delhi while doing trainning for moddeling at Mehar Bhasin's academy at India Habitat Center Delhi.

xoxo

Our Hibiscus, china rose

 When we entered this house as the sole owners and trying to collect plants for our front and back yard  I was told( by the plant doctor…yes the gardener in our front park of the locality)  that having a red hibiscus plant growing on your property is considered a sign of   luck in parts of North India and in the Bengal region.  So imagine my disappointment when, these days due to extreme cold near about 3 degree here, our very own red hibiscus plant suffered from a severe attack of this cold and produce very small flowers .

I was   on the hunt for a beautiful bowl, and transformed an olden terracotta bowel embellish it with stones an filled it with water to float the single flower on the plant in it.   Wouldn’t this be fabulous in an entry in our front yard?  

 We people even spent an entire Sunday afternoon painstakingly wiping off each leaf with spraying water   to wash the accumulated dust of the road.  After a month of suspense, our china rose  sprouted its first flower last week – Hooray!

Here is our bathed flower, along with my daughter’s and niece’s favourite dresses – also featuring our beloved flower – a keepsake photo for both of them :

This flower is termed as MANDARA , as is the mythic Mountain Mandara-that was used to to churn the ocean of milk in the Puranic account of Lord Vishnu’s Kurma Avatar.  It is unclear if there is any link between these 2 terms. 

 For my earlier posts on my hibiscus click ..here  ,here  , here    here  ,  and  here             

xxx

nostelgia with renovation

I felt nostalgic on seeing these pictures stored in a folder in my computer. Of course this was the renovation phase of our house. Very hectic period! And later very fruitful too!

Here's a "during" picture.  It can feel sooo overwhelming when you're knee deep in a renovation process.  You have to hold onto the dream and keep your focus.  Just keep saying, "It's going to be worth it, it's going to be worth it!"

snatching leisure time

some organization here!

Chester is placed in front of almirah, obstructing its doors. 

untidy bed

a nap after lunch 

Indeed, it was!  The flooring was done in a beautiful marble and granite tile.  My son also decided to tile all the kitchen walls with white rusty tile for a nice, clean look.

xoxo

Simple life.......

In my little North Indian corner of Haryana. Which has been a part of the Kuru region in North India .I am finding and creating beauty in the everyday and ordinary things to simplify my life. I am using what I have to create with my children and to invest in others. We are just an ordinary family praying desperately to make an extra-ordinary difference in this world we live in.

Door deco colloquially known as bandanwar in Haryanvi

My version of floating vase;

Don't be fooled,  this is actually not the floating vase, it was a plant vase in his past life, presently these flowers are  actually floating in water!

One thing I know for sure is what might appear to be “the simple life” for one person doesn’t necessarily equate to simple for another. Right now in my life simple means slowing down, staying put and nurturing what I already have rather than seeking simplicity somewhere else, taking off on a new adventure or adding new things to my already overflowing plate. Simplicity is about being in the moment and embracing life right where I am.

I made this vase somewhat smooth with plaster of paris+white glue+water and then trimmed it with glass stones.....

Notice another pot with floating jasmine flowers from my balcony garden!

I love how cozy all my vases  look, and I especially like the way my painted milk bottles ones complement my Sitar nativity. It is addicting to paint  these! I painted them in somany colours .no!nO! its' not me !     I am so grateful for the creative ladies for sharing their fab ideas. Go visit all of them!

Have you locked-up your documents. DONT LOSS THE KEY!!!!!!!Go have a hook and hang it like above!!!

Close-up! Just smell the jasmine!!!!

My 25-and-a-half year old daughter, on the evening of her first day of actual behind-the-wheel driving was perfectly calm. It was me, the passenger, who was a wreck. I had zero control of the car, and my facial hair for that day was older than her driving privileges. This seemed crazy!

For weeks, I've been getting on my son to wash his car. His car is 3 years old (still pretty much new) and it was filthy, both inside and out.

It makes me laugh to see how easily a mere strange facial expressions of my daughter   can make my niece    laugh like this.

I was very fortunate to grow up twigs to make these woolen branches . Every time I go in the balcony, I enjoy looking at all of the sticks and the plarn mat. I've collected lots of poly bags  from grocery stores and on vacations I made braids and coiled the braid to make these mats . aren't they beautiful!

 

I’ve discovered a comfortable way of life that might be different than I dreamed of but it works for me, for now.  I realize now I can handle living close enough to shops that I can have some “me time” at a coffee house or window shopping, but far enough that I don’t get in a regular habit of shopping to fill a void in my life that should have been filled with simpler pleasures. Living near enough (but not too close!) to shopping or other “spending” temptations helps simplify the budget too! It’s good, even if it isn’t what I had originally imagined as a perfect life or location for me.
xoxo