2022 seems to be a mixed bag so far…

It seems like only an instant back, we were welcoming the new year, hoping that year 2022 will do away with all our worries and compensate all the loss and hopelessness with abundant happiness and of course prosperity. And now 2 months have already gone by…

How has the year been for you all so far?? All good? All bad? For me, I think it’s been a rollercoaster ride with a mixed bag of events and emotions. I have experienced tranquility and turmoil. A sense of Zen and chaos.

Like i mentioned in my previous post New beginnings 🏠, we shifted to our new home. The last weeks of December and first weeks of January were spent settling in. Trying to make this new place a home of our liking. We threw a small house warming party for some friends and family. 2022 seemed to start off on a rather nice note. Until..

I got a call from my parents saying they were both having fever and cold. These days, these 2 words together immediately sets off the panic button. Asked them to get tested and yupp, sure enough..they both tested covid positive. Living so far away, I felt pretty helpless and all i could do was keep calling to check up on them and occasionally ordering food online for them to get a break from the monotony of quarantining at home. Thankfully, they are vaccinated and were/are gradually recovering. And within a week of them testing positive, my husband and I also fell sick and tested positive. And we never even stepped out of home. All we did was go down to pick up online delivered groceries and the occasional evening walks. And that was enough to catch the damned virus!! 😵😫

Covid, you suck!! 😫😓😰😨🥵🥶😓

Now I had heard that the new variant is not that powerful and all. I have been severely sick in the past due to various other ailments, but let me tell you, that no other time have I experienced such body pain and fatigue. Even when I was hungry, I couldn’t bring myself to get up and eat, let alone cook or work. Nobody could come and help us, as we were in isolation. Our parents were worried sick (literally in this case 😛). Even though the fever and body pain subsided in a few days, we were left feeling tired and exhausted beyond measure. I was off work for 3 weeks!! That’s the longest leave I have had in 4 years!! Thankfully we both took care of each other and are slowly and hopefully coming out of it.

So to all those who are feeling that the pandemic is over, I’d request you to be cautious. It’s still very much out there and ready to bite your ass. And it’s NOT a pleasant experience at all.

These days of home quarantine can be lonely and isolating, making one feel bored, restless,or even melancholic. But there were 2 things that kept me going…While the doctor prescribed meds took care of my body and helped it fight the virus, there were 2 things in my life that gave me mental peace, restored the zen in me and filled my life with the much needed dose of hope and positivity. First is of course my Plant babies. Infact after moving in, I have added some more to my mini garden. Even when I was down and out with fever and body pain due to the virus, I dragged myself to water the plants atleast on alternate days. Having my morning tea in my garden, seeing the flowers bloom, the morning breeze rustling the green leaves, and seeing them soak up the sunlight and thrive, made me feel so much better. They literally acted as a balm to my throbbing head and aching body. Plants truly add color and hope in our lives. They have been one of my favourite companions throughout the pandemic for the past 2 years. 🌿🌱💓

I started this as a hobby but in these last 2 years, I have developed a true love for gardening. Here are some pics of my new plant babies🥰🥰. Hope you like them….

Also, we have an addition to our family…we got some fish babies for our aquarium 🐠🐟…the aquarium was inbuilt in the new house…an empty aquarium looks bad we thought, so just for the purpose of aesthetics and decoration, we got 10 small ones…and we instantly fell in love with them. We gave them names and fed them and I have spent many hours watching their every movement and even talking to them (Crazy much?? 😝😝)!! Sadly, 2 died within the first 2 days…even though they were with us for only a day or so, losing them felt devastating..my husband refused to just throw them in the trash and felt we should bury them, as it seemed like a more humane thing to do…so I buried them in one of the plant pots…those of you who have had similar experiences, what do you guys do in such a case?? Just curious, I don’t want to bury any more of them 😔

Thankfully the others are doing fine and just seeing them play around, fight, snooze or swim around have made my quarantine days somewhat exciting and eventful. Here’s a peak:

Newest members of the family 💟

My fish babies playing about 💟💟

So that’s how the first 2 months of 2022 have been…one on end there was sickness (covid), death (fish), loneliness and despair (isolation) and on the other there were changes (moving in), additions (plants,fish), growth (blossom and bloom). So it’s really been a mixed bag of emotions and experiences for me, hope the rest of the year is mundane without any unpleasant surprises up its sleeves…how has 2022 been for you all so far? Do let me know in the comments.

And don’t forget to mask up and sanitise!! 😷

Continuing My Quest for some new ‘TALENTS’😊

So about 6 months ago, when we had just about stepped into 2020, I had written a post (read My Quest for a new ‘Talent’) basically elaborating on the lack of any special skills or talents that I can brag about or post on social media to make my ‘social media friends’ go awww in awe of my talents and also be a source of joy to myself in the process. So I set out on a quest to look through every nook and corner of YouTube, Instagram to see if it would give me new ideas that I could pursue in this quest for finding me a ‘talent’. A few such activities/ideas did make it to my coveted ‘Talents to be tried’ list…some worked out, some not quite … thought it will be fun to share it with you all.

Wait, is that 👆👆 me? Well, I will let you be the judge of that…let’s get started 😀

1. Paint by numbers : 👎🏻

When I came across this, I was blown away..I always thought painting was fun but it’s been years since I have held a painting brush in my hand. So the idea of numbers guiding through was so encouraging. I mean it had 2 favourite things of mine..numbers and paints. It could never go wrong. As the Amazon package arrived, I looked at it and immediately made plans to hang the ‘masterpiece’ in the living room to soak up praises from anyone visiting. 😎

However, it’s only when I started, I realized it was no mean feat. The canvas was quite big and the numbers minuscule. It was a test of my patience and my eye sight. But I didn’t give up. For the next few days, every night I was hard at work. And I did make some progress. But the end was nowhere in sight. After more than a month of such perseverance, I realized I wasn’t even halfway through. My enthusiasm and patience was weaning off. My husband saying, ‘hey I can’t figure out what the hell you’ve been trying to draw for the past few weeks’ was the last straw…it’s still lying there waiting to be finished. Maybe one day I will pick up from where I left it and finish it. Maybe once it’s finished, it will really look good. Honestly, it’s a great idea. If you are really really patient, this is perfect for you. For me, I ran out of patience and this talent didn’t quite work out. 😔

Here I started 😁

Here I halted 😔

2. Gardening: 👍🏻

Well, I know this is more of a hobby than a talent. But it’s something I have picked up pretty recently so I thought it deserves a mention. Now if you do read my blog regularly or even scroll through some of my recent blogs (My Mini Garden Tales, Spring for my Soul 🌻🌼🦋🌺), you will know that I have totally fallen in love with gardening. Every morning, that’s the first place I go to. To see if seeds have sprouted or there are new flowers blooming or some plant needs some pruning. I make a mental list of the things to do in the mini garden later in the day. It’s tedious and time consuming but hell, I love it!! So yayy. thumbs up alright 🌼🌻🌺🌹

3. Bottle Painting: 👍🏻

I have to say, this has to be the best thing I stumbled upon on YouTube. There are some amazing channels on YouTube with detailed tutorial videos on painting bottles and decorating them with different things. I am as addicted to watching these videos as I am into trying them all out..so far, I have tried my hand at mandala art, glass paint, tissues, lentils, pista covers, Charred paper and currently clay…all on glass bottles..it’s so engrossing and creatively very satisfying.

Some of the bottle art projects 🍾👩‍🎨

And once done, they make way to my work desk where they are displayed in all their glory and just looking at them makes me happy. At this rate, I fear I have to get a bigger table just to fit them all. 😂😂 Earlier, I would get Amazon packages regularly with new clothes, tops and dresses. These days, it’s all about my art supplies. Colors, brushes, varnish, glue, clay etc etc. In fact at the back of my mind, I am always thinking of my next project, what to do and how to do it. So this one definitely gets a big thumbs up 👍🏻😀💟

Here’s how I put them bottles to some use to decorate my space. 😀🌼

4. Good ol’ painting: 👍🏻

Since I already had all the colors and brushes for bottle painting, I thought, why not try the traditional water painting. Honestly, I am NOT a great painter. I can draw sceneries but I CANNOT draw human figures, I just don’t get the dimensions right and they end up looking more like hobbits. 🤷Yet, it feels so great to draw and paint in a coloring book. Reminds me of my childhood. I haven’t done much although. Definitely hope to do more of it in the coming days. But that’s a thumbs up too 👍🏻🎨

Just these 2 so far

Infact I have been using up all the paints to paint whatever I can find, mugs, cardboard boxes…Its just fun playing around with colors and giving them a makeover. 💟💟😀

Apart from all these, I am always looking for new DIY projects that aren’t too complicated and will be fun thing to do. I have made a list of few more things like wall decor items, making artificial flowers out of waste materials. We’ll see how that goes.

But what I have realised in the past few months is that we are never too old to try something new. We just have to take the initiative and jump right in…maybe the first time, it won’t be that good or not any good at all, but who cares. As long as we have fun and enjoy ourselves, thats all that really matters.

So if there’s something that you have always wanted to try out, but couldn’t , for whatever reason, now’s as good a time as any. Give it a go. Am sure you will enjoy yourself. Do tell in the comments. 😀✌️

Little things 💐🌧️☘️🍰🏖️💗

To know you’re alive by feeling the blood flow through the vein,

To dance in the rain,

To help irrespective of loss or gain,

To smile through the pain

Life is indeed about the little things.

Magical rains🌧️🥰

To have little, yet be happy to share,

To sing without a care,

To have sand at my feet and wind in my hair,

To breathe the cool, fresh, brisk air,

Life is indeed about the little things.

Soak up the vitamin-sea ❤️🏖️

To see a flower bloom,

To smell the fragrance of my favourite perfume,

To connect with friends via zoom,

To wear my mother’s earrings which is my favourite heirloom,

Life is indeed about the little things.

Appreciate, Enjoy, Smile

To gaze at the clear blue sky,

To enjoy guilt free all the fudge and pie,

To watch a sad film and cry,

To enjoy the banter and goofing around with my guy,

Life is indeed about the little things.

Happiness indeed..nom nom😋

To spend time gardening,

To feel at peace while moon gazing,

To know about the world through reading,

To pour my heart out through writing,

Life is indeed about the little things.

Be silly….with family 😁

To spending quality time with family,

To laugh wholeheartedly,

To always offer help readily,

To be content with little and live happily,

Life is indeed about the little things.

Overthinking doesn’t yield results,just a decoy,

To take away peace of mind and let the bigger worries of the unpredictable future burden and annoy,

Coz ultimately, it’s the little things that bring the greatest joy.

So, sit back, breathe easy, savour these little things and learn to enjoy. 😊🥰

My Mini Garden Tales

The pandemic hit us all hard and left us stuck at home with the same mundane routine of office work, incessant zoom calls and endless household chores (man,they never get over)..but if social media is any proof, it’s also given most of us some spare time to reconnect… reconnect with ourselves, reconnect with our old friends and also to reconnect with our hobbies and passions…I see endless posts from my friends/acquaintances putting up pictures of their culinary skills or fitness routines, or artwork or poetries…just like them, even I have discovered a new found love …for gardening 🌱🌿

I have written about my gardening experience in some earlier posts (read My Quest for a new ‘Talent’, Spring for my Soul 🌻🌼🦋🌺, The first bloom 🌷🌷 ). But my garden has grown since then and I thought I must share the latest updates with all my WP friends who might share a similar interest.

First of all, it’s been many months of lockdown here owing to the ravaging second wave. The nearest nursery from where I bought the plants has been closed forever. So it’s been about 5-6 months that I couldn’t buy any new plants. So to keep up the garden, I knew I had to take extra care of the pant babies already there and make sure that they continue to thrive. And to my utter joy, they did. Most of them anyway. 😊😍

Pink coloured Dianthus

Dual shaded Dianthus

Jasmine blossom

Do you know what’s this beauty called?

Polka dot plant

Hibiscus

Money plant /Pothos

However, despite my best efforts I failed to save 2 of my plant babies…I tried to water more, water less, repot, everything a novice like me knew or could think of. But they just gradually withered and slipped away. ☹️☹️

My little garden misses you babies 😘

But, Mother nature works in mysterious ways. While I couldn’t save 2 of the plants despite trying so hard, a few stems just sprang up out of nowhere and blossomed to full sized healthy plants… with zero effort from my side!! Talk about Circle of life. Funny thing, till now I am not even sure what these are called. If you guys have a clue, do let me know in the comments section. But they are beautiful and thriving. So name or not, I Ain’t complaining. 💟🌿😀

Surprise surprise 🤩🥰

A few weeks back I went down to get some groceries and on my way back I noticed some beautiful potted plants near the security guards’ room. I came to know that the owners were not living here currently so they were left to his care. So took his permission and cut out a few stems and used them to fill my empty pots. And with some nurturing and care, they have been doing pretty well so far. Welcome home babies 💟💟

Rhoeo plant…they are so colourful 🤩

Aloe vera

Next up, I turned my attention to the kitchen. I did some research to see what veggies or greens can be grown easily and how to get started on them. For now, I used some pumpkin, papaya, lemon, chilly and coriander seeds and slowly they are coming out. Yet to get any fruits but it’s a joy seeing them come to life from a few dried seeds. I never realized how fun it is to see new stems popping out of the soil to form full grown plants. Here they are 😀😀

My very own Chillies plant. Someday soon am hoping I can see chillies here 🌶️🌶️

Coriander

Pumpkin leaves

That’s lemon tree in the making…just sprouted a few days ago 🍋🍋

I got greedy and planted quite a few pumpkin seeds and man, they grow fast

Papaya leaves

And like before (read Rebirth…), I planted some dried up leftover flowers into the soil and I can see new plants. Whether they bear flowers or not, we will have to wait and see.

From dried up flowers to new plants 🙂

Well it’s been less than a year since I started working on my mini balcony garden. And I am still learning. Must say, being a plant parent is a lot of work. You gotta ensure you’re watering them right, make sure unwanted insects don’t eat up the leaves, get rid of them if need be, ensure they get adequate sunlight. But it’s also been a very enriching and fulfilling experience. It keeps me busy. It keeps me happy. And most importantly, it keeps me hopeful. Every time, a flower blossoms or a tiny little stem sprouts up from the soil, it’s just pure, unadulterated joy. And for that I thank my beautiful plant babies 🥰😍.

Spring for my Soul 🌻🌼🦋🌺

The past year has been like no other. The pandemic has hit us hard and has been a testing time for all of us in varying capacities. It has imparted some important, never-to-forget life lessons though. Almost forgotten things like patience, slowing down, resting, relaxing, family time seems to have been reintroduced in our lives and have gained much fan following ever since…

For me, this whole experience has definitely made me more patient, for the sake of mental peace compelled me to find more time for myself (even though I have a crazy and super stressful work life), indulge in trying out new hobbies…but the most important life lesson I got out of this whole pandemic situation has been this –

Finding Happiness in the little things.

Like the joy of a steamin cup of coffee, watching a good film, going through photo albums to immerse myself in a sea of nostalgia to reminisce the good ol’ days, seeing flowers bloom in my mini balcony, standing in the balcony to hear the birds chirping away, watching kids play in the garden below (and secretly hoping to join them in their game of hide and seek). Simple things. Mundane things. Things we probably did and do every day without even realising the inherent beauty of it. Without realizing how it actually appeases each of our senses.

Like the sight of a clear blue sky with puffs of white clouds floating about or the bloom of colourful flowers in my small garden is visual happiness. The aroma of my chef styled cooked chicken wafting through the air heightens and appeases my sense of smell. Eating it makes my taste buds happy. Holding on to my husband’s hands during a horror film is comfort for my skin craving human touch. Listening to my favourite songs at blasting volume is happiness for my ears. So you see, how the simplest things have so many hidden joys. All we have to do is experience it with all the senses we have been blessed with, and try to derive as much joy and happiness out of it as possible. More so now than ever, as Corona is still out there, waiting to catch hold of us. So we still have to spend a lot of time inside our homes before we can really go back to our old, carefree normal.

In addition to pleasing our senses, I have realized it is equally important to please our soul…to nurture and replenish it with copious amounts of love, laughter, sunshine, peace, tranquility and contentment. In any way that works best for you. For me, I have decided that I am going to savour the simple joys, enjoy the mundane, complain less, appreciate more…and also add some colour in my life.

Here’s a sneak peek of my new plant babies ushering in the joy, hope and colours of Spring not just in my little balcony..but also into my life. Spring for my Soul. 💐🦋🌺🥰💕

The first bloom 🌷🌷

To say that the last few days have been hectic is truly an understatement. Work has been all consuming, draining off every morsel of energy out of me. So much so, that I have been unable to blog as I just didn’t know what to write. I thought of writing about my hell of a work life. But then I realized it would be more of a ramble and would probably end up cursing my manager and using all kinds of profanities. But then who doesn’t have a boss to hate and bitch about. I guess many of you will have the same experience and wouldn’t want to be reminded of the same here. I mean this is our happy space and I didn’t want to give her an entry here (but I guess I already kind of have, haven’t I?). And what’s really the point. it’s not like she will read it and decide to stop her rampage of my mental peace.

So thats me most days, angry, frustrated, irritated (ask my husband😛), just pissed off for having to put up with a menace of a manager.

These days it’s become somewhat of a habit. As soon as I wake up, I run to the balcony. To see my beautiful plant babies. Basking in sunlight. Enjoying the chill in the morning breeze. Just watching them alive and thriving just gives a me a certain sense of peace and tranquility. So normally, I just stand in the balcony for a few minutes. starting the day with them. Watering them. Sometimes even talking to them. Sitting and soaking in the sun together. However today morning, I was in for a pleasant surprise.

My beautiful plant baby had this gift for me….the first bloom..and that too…a double whammy…

The unadulterated joy I felt , I possibly cannot put in words. To see all the hard work and care and nurturing..finally come to fruition..it was a joy, a Victory and a celebration for me alone to enjoy and savour. I sipped my morning tea watching the beautiful bloom. Determined to shower more care and nurture them so that they continue to bloom and bear more flowers. It energised me. And prepared me for another grueling day at work.

My Quest for a new ‘Talent’

Ever since the earth completed another revolution and we moved into 2021, I have been doing some introspection…mainly pertaining to my ‘talents’…. probably coz I off late I have been seeing lot of people posting pictures proudly displaying their talents whether it’s singing or dancing , knitting, painting, fitness or even stand up comedy….so that got me thinking..what are my talents?? 🤔🤔

Now whenever anyone asks me that, I very proudly and honestly tell them that my talents are sleeping, lazing around and binge watching Netflix..but then, come on, even I know they are not real talents these are not really talents.. certainly not ones I can display for the world to see and admire…so I go back to contemplate this basic question…what are my talents?

Can I dance? Well if you consider Chandler a good dancer, I guess am as good as him then 😅😅

Can I sing? Well am definitely a bathroom singer…but then who doesn’t sing in the shower. And the point of that is no one’s listening. But in public though I guess I won’t be much better than Janice serenading Chandler (yes ok maybe I should stop giving F.R.I.E.N.D.S references) but I guess it suffices to say that singing in public is definitely not my thing..and won’t be yours too if you are Listening 😛😛😛

Am I funny for a stand up piece? Well I have seen people’s funny side come out when when they have downed a couple of tequillas…but am told that won’t work for me. My husband says am a sad drinker who whines and cribs and abuses the shit out of people. Not the kind of funny I imagine I wanna be…

Can I paint? Well sure. Ever since kindergarten, I have been painting a hut with fences and a tree and mountains in the background with a sun and some birds…but sadly I realize even my 7 year old nephew can draw that…it’s like the AbC of painting and clearly I haven’t progressed beyond that to reach XYZ.

Can I put up fitness videos to inspire others? Yeah why the hell not. All I have to do for it is to become fit. Piece of cake right?…rather no piece of cake. Watching fitness videos , promising to start working on them from ‘tomorrow’ while eating ice cream…hmm… probably not what one would expect in a fitness video. So that’ll have to wait. Not today. But Someday.

So, in desperate need of a real talent, I ponder hard ….and finally have decided..that if I don’t have any real talents then I am going to create them by trying out different things and then will see if I am any good..if I see some potential, I will work on it. If not, I have to find another. But I will try and try until I really find something I can claim to be a ‘talent’..

So for now, upon careful analysis and watching many many tutorial videos, I have shortlisted 3 talents that I am gonna try out.

First, I have decided to revamp my balcony mini garden…I decided it needed a dash of color and some glamor. So I added some new plants to the garden…welcome home babies ❤️❤️

Next up, I was really intrigued by glass painting. I am yet to start, even with the purchase of the paints. But it’s happening for sure.. For now, Motivating my husband to gulp some beer so that I can get the bottles to experiment on. Talk about an ideal wife.😂😂

Lastly, to my utter joy, I found out that if one wants to paint and play with colours, then thankfully you needn’t be a Van Gogh or da Vinci to pull it off. I came across these number by paint canvasses where all I need to do is apply colors on the canvas based on the numbers instructed. And in no time one can have a masterpiece to their credit. Genius.

Well that’s the plan for now. Let’s see how that goes. What about you? Have you ever gone looking around for a ‘talent’? Do tell. Waiting to steal your ideas incase mine falls flat. Just kidding. Or not. 😀😀