Itching to be creative...

I miss working on glass painting that I used to freely work on - one after the other, back in India! In Paris, I am not sure where I can get slabs of glass from...Anyway, this weekend, S and I were busy rearranging the furniture, cleaning and clearing all the clutter from the busy weeks we had....when I found a pile of pebbles I collected from NICE, in the south of France!

I coloured each pebble in a vibrant colour and put them together in this clay Uruli, Amma gifted me when she came to Pune! :)

Its difficult to grow plants as its winter, but I don't give up! Actually, the coriander-hoarder in me does not give up....so I built a space on the balcony around the colourful pebbles. I have loads of little coloured pebbles and small knick-knacks that I have collected over the years...and never really get rid of!

...Slowly, I added the Rajasthani men too....along with the christmas pinecones!

....and now I have something to cheer me up....as I look along outside, with a gorgeous view of the Eiffel Tower and sip coffee, read a book or talk to S!

I have cheerful company, as I cook!

After "this" ( click on the text "this"), I have pretty much changed it up quite a bit, going along! ...and my kitchen window is very pretty with knick-knacks, cheerful flowers, spice and everything nice! ...even if i say so myself! :)

Winter has come upon us, and for someone who loves sunshine, its quite a dampener! I am not someone who stays gloomy too long ( noone should, actually!)...so I bought these winter flowers in the market below and Voila, they sit pretty and cheer me up, sunshine or NOT!

....the "hotness" quotient of my window has increased exponentially, with some fresh and green entrants! :)

On a whim, I decided to try my luck by just planting a few coriander seeds or kothamalli verai, as we say in Tamizh...and wow! I do have a very green thumb! ;) I was so excited to see sprigs of coriander!

I must say I have a strong fetish for coriander, it has such a lovely aroma that I tend to put coriander in almost everything! Divine rasam is virtually impossible without coriander leaves! If my cooking tastes good, the secret ingredient is coriander!

...It's my dream to live near the sea or have a beach house someday! ...while we wait for that to happen, we can still have sea shells, right? Right! I have this really cute hanging full of chozhi ( Patti used to play pallankuzhi with this!)or sea shells and I find it really cute...at the end hangs a bell !

I might have mentioned earlier that I collect random coloured glass containers in different shapes and arrange them like this....or paint them and make it into a pretty vase....Like?

My Kitchen Garden, very spicy now!

Orange Gladiolus in my tiny lil' garden!!

There are always flowers for those who want to see them...

The Earth laughs in these lovely blooms, don't they?...

Moving on to greener pastures...

Literally!!...(don't get it all wrong!)..I mean, my love for gardening!! :P

As a kid, I remember, my brother and I, had few household chores to do, and I would water the plants sometimes. I would often watch my mom toil for hours in the balcony ( we had a few plants on our balcony coz we stayed in a spacious apartment, my parents still do) digging, watering, manure...the works! I would often wonder what does she see in these plants? When there are so many people here, wanting her attention ( which basically meant her daughter!), why does she spend so much time with these plants? We would often have tomatoes, bitter gourd and other home-grown vegetables in our rasam or curry. Amma would be so excited that it is something she had grown. Now, I understand that feeling! I had written this (click on 'this' to read that post) when we had strawberries at home, when we just arrived in Pune. We brought saplings from Mahabaleshwar and when we had cut strawberries with our cereal or muesli, I had a feeling of deja vu!

I didn't realize then that as a working mom, she had so many things to do! For that matter, I didn't understand that she would need to do something for herself, that gives her happiness...other than the kids, home, husband, work and million other things.

Now, I can't imagine how people can't realize beautiful plants are....or how lovely it is to see a plant grow or a flower bloom. Often, the first thing I do, once I get up from bed, is to see if the seed that I have been watering regularly, has sprouted? half a centimeter more? a new bud? some new petals? I get really excited and drag S from the bathroom while he is brushing groggy-eyed . I ask him to figure out what is the change?...And he is clueless!!! I want him to share the same joy and excitement I feel...

I am totally in love with gardening and I have started working on my breakfast table in the balcony adjoining the bedroom. With spring in full bloom, there are lovely flowers and little saplings available everywhere in the market. ( will post pics soon when it is ready!)

Everytime, S and I go to the market, we come back with plants. S groans and runs in the opposite direction! Another addition to my obsession for cushion covers, clothes and wind chimes!!!