Simba the bimba

Simba's at home.He's been around for almost 2 weeks now. He was just as tall as the bed when he came in, now he is a few inches taller.he has the longest dog legs I have seen & retractable neck.Reaches accross anything & everything & picks up books, utensils stuff to chew in general.
guess its not too easy to train dogs!

In Sickness

Husband diagnosed with diabetes.early stages, 35 is a very young age to contract the disease! but then lifestyles today are such I suppose.so we are in the control mode, diet plans, exercise schedules  & timetables.ordered the blood sugar monitor today, BP monitor & weighing scale are next on the shopping list
Neck deep in diabetic recipes.There are facets in life that one discovers as it comes.Did not know so many diabetic recipe sites existed!or for that matter Healthkart, the medical equipment online store.

a bit of sunshine

I have these memories from my childhood, misted by time, something like looking through morning dew.It is pleasantly cold.I am looking through a window, old fashioned with wooden rods for bars.the space outside is green, bathed in dew, with morning sunshine in it.

Even today when I am in an unhappy place I try & go back to that place, it lasts just a second, no more.but so fresh, so happy, so envigorating.makes me feel like I can do just anything.

but its difficult to do that you know, to go back to that place, everyone needs a proffessor X I suppose, to help them access the brightest part of their memory system.to help make the best of themselves.

rose apple wine

Did you know chambakaa was called rose apple! does in not sound like a beautiful exotic fruit...last year when I went home the chamba, behind the place was full of the pretty pink fruit. Sheba our mock golden retriever (shes not one but looks like one) loves em, but there is only so much one dog can eat.so most of the fruit  started accumulating in the shade of the tree.My father wanted to do something with them, so they did not all go wasted.

Now in my grand mom's time they were pickled, there were more people at home too I suppose, so pickles were in demand.Now with just my mom & dad at home there was a limit to how much pickle could be consumed.As we thought about it my father came up with a thought, There is actually no limit to the amount of wine you could consume :), & right now rose apple wine is likely to find more takers than rose apple pickle.

so we went on to make a ceramic jar full of rose apple wine.I have some pics, will try & upload sometime & the recipe too in case you want to make it too

THE RECIPE

INDGREDIENTS
1. Rose apple washed whole (with seeds) - 2 kg
2. Sugar - 1 kg
3. Cinnamon

METHOD
Wash & dry Rose apple & add to a ceramic jar.Add sugar & powdered cinnamon into the jar.Lid the jar & cover lidded mouth with a clean muslin/cotton cloth.Tie with string.keep in a dry place undisturbed for 12 days.Open on the 13th day & mix with a wooden/plastic spoon.Strain through a cotton cloth or plastic strainer & fill in colored glass bottles.All ready for consumption.

Could reduce the proportion of sugar according to taste.Would get stronger with time

It is burning hot, 46 degrees Celsius is definitely not funny temperature wise. living on the 4th floor of a four story apartment block means that my home converts to a microwave oven every summer.Add to it the fact that my current home does not ventilate well. the windows are jammed shut due to swollen walls & rusted hinges.


my landlord is a kanjoos makhichoos...epitome of miserliness & refuses to even touch the house in the name of maintenance.As a result the taps are leaking, rusted deep within, so even a superficial tap change will not help anymore, probably unchanged from the last 30 years since the building was constructed.plaster is crumbling from the outside, walls sagging onto the window panes preventing them from opening ever, the steel withinn the concrete rusted. Plants grow from the walls putting forth pretty purple flowers, probably their roots are responsible for holding my kitchen wall together. drains are blocked, bathroom flush permanantly out of order even with a new set of flushing systems.


I have a feeling this place might just crumble down one day. Just hope its empty at that time.

Have been hearing noises in the kitchen for a few days.....the first time I assumed it was a pan probably kept in the wrong place, three days in a row the same lid off the platform looked suspicious.I was sure it was a mouse. A hates mice, he harbors a paranoidal fear of rats which I think is quite unreasonable. but I don't love rats either, specially in the kitchen.

I planned to get mice medicine & hoped selfishly that they would die else where & not in my house.

And then today morning I noticed in the layer of dust on my side table by the window.... paw prints!.... delicate & flowery!.... a cat in the house!.......and then it all fell into place, a sly little (judging by paw size) cat has been stealing into my house in the night, No doubt the fish smell helped. He's been helping himself to the left overs in the dust bin I guess & knocking down the lid of my fish frying pan.

Plan to put out a bowl of milk tommorrow, right on the table he's been using as a step down into the house, by the window.Hope he appreciates, & may be visit me once in a while during the day.

Gudiya the vegetarian spaniel

Gudiya came home yesterday.They were late she & her rescuer & reached only around 9.30.She is a 2 year old girl, the color of spun gold & with long curly ears.She seemed a bit of a bully, barging into the house to sniff through all the rooms, though she did keep away when was told to, specially from the kitchen.

Once she confirmed that all was well and there was no body else in the house she came to the living room to sit with us.Asha told us (the sleeping A was woken up to meet gudiya) about gudiya.Though just two she was on a barrage of pills.Unusual for a dog of that age, unless she was treated badly or with indifference. The vet has been going through her ears & between her toes to cure infections she seemed to have caught.She had a tumor on her belly, a benign one & a week hind leg.She had been through 4 houses in 2 years, an average of 6 months. She did not get along with children & other dogs at homes she was in.



She seemed to be happy though, loved the snacks I bought her, sat down & got her head scratched almost dozing off in pleasure, lay on her back for her belly to be tickled (unusual) & jumped up to hug & play when they got up to leave.

Would have loved to keep her.but not too sure we are at the right stage of life to do that.A decision to be kept for a good 12-14 years. Hope she finds a good place, think she'll need a lot of love & attention.

In the meanwhile

Its been a while, in the meanwhile it rained, I clicked a few bad pictures, met a pushy client, sent out a good presentation, a friend came home, considered adopting Gudiya the vegetarian spaniel.