Back on our feet

When I was blogging (bitching) about a bumpy March, I wasn't counting my blessings. April and May have made me see the bright side.

1. Living in a country that gives me access to some of the best doctors in the field and the best of the technological developments

2. Having a job that provides a good insurance coverage to pay for those expensive doctors.

3. Having the rainy day (year) fund to pay for the co-payments

4. Having the support of my parents who flew in half way across the world to help us, and all the family and friends that have helped us along this path in so many ways.

5. Being young enough to be able to weather this storm and come out in the end.

6. Having discovered such an enormous health problem just by accident without any symptoms. Had we not spotted it, things might have just blown up in our face later.

Well, things are beginning to look up, even though we have more than a couple of visits each week to see the docs. We still need to figure out how the long term strategy will play out, but hopefully all the bad karma is done.

And there was a vision

Over the years, both Guru and I have had a fascination to have a really massive Buddha statute in our garden. That wish came to fruition this past week(end).

Over the last couple of months or so, I made a resolution to steer clear of unnecessary shopping, and I did that fairly successfully. I happened to stop by a store to return a few things that had been in my car forever. I accidentally spotted this massive Buddha statue and fell in love with it. I didn't buy it, not figure out even how much it was priced for, but mentioned it in the passing to Guru. Friday evening we decided to check it out assuming it would be too pricey for us to buy in any case.

It turned out to be marked down significantly, because it was super heavy and 6 people had purchased it but never took Buddha home. After much debate, we made the purchase, and went back to pick him up on Saturday.
He is happily placed under the Oak tree in the backyard. (facing east and on a couple of stone pavers to keep him off the soil). We also picked up a couple of tuned wind chimes (one of which you see here)

 

 As we went around, on the shelves, hidden in the back, I spotted another Buddha statue (just the bust), a rather sharp looking one might I add. With a fairly cheap price tag, we decided to buy that one too. Here is a comparison against the original one I had.

We set it out under the Maple in the front yard. A concrete cinder-block as a base and river rock piled up all around. Ideally we could do with some more river rock to go around. That will have to wait the weekend. In the interim, here is what it looks like.

The time to relax is when you don't have time for it

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
~ J. Lubbock

After thinking about it for over a year, we finally decided to get a pair of "Chaise Lounge". We set them up on the concrete patio and have been thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and getting some much needed rest.

Circle of life

I am so relieved that the month of March is coming to a close. It has been the most craziest roller coaster month in the 30+ years of existence. The painful lessons have been learnt- what cant be cured has to be endured and what does not kill you makes you stronger.

Now, to the happy moments that helped us pull through this month.

A sweet wedding in early March

A dear friend's baby shower (she pushed it out by a week, so I can attend). I had a great time and also enjoyed a really yummy Japanese cake that was by far the best cake I have ever eaten in my life.

And just a couple of days back, this beaten up trash can brought us immense happiness and cheer

The big haul of Oak leaves we had rounded up over a month back is still being loaded onto the weekly pick up. It sat around for most of this month, waiting for us to get back to our routine. Lo and behold, there was this tiny little bird that we totally scared. Inside was this beautiful nest with 5 little eggs. And, the nest was built with nothing other than dryer lint that we haven't gotten around to cleaning.


Life is a road with some bumpy patches, but hopefully for most of us the road is a smooth one and the odd bump doesn't deter us.

A new fence

We finally have a brand new fence on the south side of our property. I have come to the realisation that it is actually good to have the 6 foot fence, and here is why.

The neighbors side is the one where you cant see the difference between where the lawn ends and where the weeds begin. We also saw dog poop littered all over the frontyard.......ewwwww (Remember the unruly dog that charged at me more than a few times and is always outside in the yard).

We also saw that he had a plethora of boxes along the side and guess what- they were rabbits and chickens. We later heard that he was offering the rabbits for free to the guys who were there putting up the fence.

One can see the stumps of the many vines that literally held up the fence, when they were taken down, along came the old fence. The alpha male creature (it is a shame to even call it a dog) going at it all the time didn't help much either.

As the fence came off, it took down the section that held the gates for most part. So we now have new gates too ! But not without its share of drama.

The post that holds up the gate (above picture with the new frame) is right along where the water main line runs on its way to the house. Of course the guys broke the water main when they were digging out the old concrete (I don't blame them for breaking it. But it took them a while to realize it was the main and call for our help to shut it off....cant imagine how bad the water bill will be now)

After patching things up, they put down a box to hold up the cement that was going to be poured for the new METAL posts (no more sagging gates)

Even though the bank balance took quite some beating, I now feel a lot safer to venture out into the yard.

Now for some after pictures

Neat huh?

Good neighbours make good fences

A piece of news from the San Mateo county caught my attention (link). Over the past couple of months we have been involved in a futile argument about the fence we share.

The  newer fence you see is the one in question and is our neighbor's front yard fence. Our city fence guidelines mandate a 4 foot fence in the front yard and for the first 15 feet on the side yard.

We pointed that out to them, but without the least bit of care that it violates city guidelines, they went ahead and put up the 6 foot structure. As much as I support privacy because we are on a main street, the blatant violation bothers me because we are now forced to match his 6foot fence on the common side we share. But we have decided to sit tight and not complain to the city (after a lot of thought and discussion and considering that we don't want to pay for the fence all by ourselves).

The next post will be all about the new fence, just have not gotten around to  taking pictures.

From the summer of 2011

This was very early on in the summer, because after the vegetables started coming in, there was no more time for pictures of the garden.

This picture now adorns my desktop, reminding me how far we have come.

Slow the motion-Show the motion

The June 2011 Picture this photo contest is all about motion and a longer exposure to capture the feeling of movement.

The moment I saw the topic I remembered our lovely camping trip to Utah in the summer of 2009. We played around with our flashlights and lighted Frisbee disc and captured one of a kind memories. The Z, I and N were spelled out using our headlamps. For the O we used an illuminated Frisbee.

Spelling out the National park we camped in...

This is one where we set up the long exposure and the two Frisbee addicts were actually throwing the Frisbee around.

Frisbee trails

We also took a very typical picture in Antelope Canyon where the long exposure captures the suns rays that come in through the small crevices.

The Sand and light show - Antelope canyon

The one that everyone is familiar with is the look of a waterfall or other moving water source left exposed for enough time to blend the coursing water into a pleasing “mist”, the result of a divine brush stroke!

Now, I was not sure if the picture had to be in the garden theme, so here is my submission.

From the summer of 2010, the friendly Hummingbird that lives in our backyard. The attempt was to freeze its constantly darting head but leave the wings blurred.

Reborn

I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring.  Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth? 




A couple of weeks back I spotted this small pack of Tomato seedlings growing in an empty pot that is near one of our planter beds. I am not sure if these are seeds that were planted last year but never germinated and were dumped into an empty pot or they are seeds from the many ripe tomatoes that we could not harvest in time. 

These have weathered the elements and are doing fabulously well. And here I am babying seedlings in soil blocks on a heat mat with grow lights.

Maybe I should just plant my seeds outside directly.

Divine Will

Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.

During one of my recent retail therapy trips I spotted this Buddha statue and figured that my tiny Japanese Maple might be a good spot. The hands nestled in his laps apparently suggests a meditative pose.

Fall

"When was it ever less than a treason
 To go with the drift of things,
 To yield with a grace to reason,
 And bow and accept the end
 Of a love or a season?"
-Robert Frost

The Autumnal Equinox is today (September 22) and marks the official beginning of Fall. But with a lacklustre summer behind us, it is depressing to think that it is going to get colder and colder. I also heard that this fall and winter are going to be much colder than usual. More snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains and good a good ski season are the only flip side I can think of now.

"The last long aster is gone;

The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;

The heart is still aching to seek,

But the feet question "Whither?"

-Robert Frost

This weekend is still supposed to be nice in the upper 70's and maybe even the 80's, and gives us more time to close out some of our long list of garden chores. Clean up all the dead plants, and maybe plant some of the cover crops. Add more wood chips/ mulch to all the flower beds to keep the weeds down, and maybe do some slug hunting at night !

I am not planting any winter veggies, and hopefully that will have us the ability to step out of town for a few days/ week for a much needed vacation.

TamBrams and Americans - Fundamentally the same?

I have always wondered if one could identify a society or culture by a defining trait, thing or habit. It need not be just one thing but A something that so strongly ties into the roots of its people. Roots? hmm... something that brings me to the title of this blog. Living in the US I have always come to believe, if there is one thing that appeals to one's AMERICAN-ness if you could call it that, was their affection quotient for the All American drink - ROOT BEER! You either love it or absolutely detest it. Every US "alien's" nightmare is to be offered root beer with no other drink option. What alien?; as The Daily Show's Jon Stewart remarked, you are a foreigner in any country in the world if you are not from there but only in America are you not even from their planet! Moving 8000 miles east to India, we meet a small sect of Tamil speaking Dravidians called the TamBrams, short for Tamil Brahmins. As many an Indian knows, You can take a TramBram out of India but you can never take the Thayir Saadam (Yoghurt Rice) out of him. In the eyes of a TamBram, no dessert stands a chance to the smoothness of Thayir Saadam. The perfect end to any meal, be it Dim Sum, Pizza, Pasta or Pulao. This perfect ending is complete with the best accompaniment: Pickle. If there is one defining pickle that goes well with this dish and brings fond memories to many a TamBram around the world, its Mahani Kizhangu (MK). There are no two ways about one's affection towards MK. One either loves it or hates it.

So what elicits this stark "black and white" response from people. Turns out the root cause of these two geographically distant food choices is in fact the same root! Say hello to the root of the Sarsaparilla plant. So one begs to ask the question if our root beer loving "hard-core" as-american-as-can-be Americans would love Mahani Kizhangu pickle in their Bloody Mary and would the thought of thayir sadam with mahani help the TamBram gulp down root beer?

Mail Man

I hate my daily commute, too long with too many mad and impatient people on the road and a route that is congested pretty much from 6 am to 10 am.. The evening are even worse, wonder how...maybe it is just because it is the end of my day and am too tired and worn out to endure it. One of the bright spots to the commute is KQED that i listen to without fail. It has such wealth of information and not to mention the lack of commercial interruptions.

This one NPR story that aired yesterday, stirred up some old memories, on different fronts. One part mentioned that in times past, postmen would find iced tea left for them in the mail box. I immediately thought....oh how so impersonal. Well....I come from the world of Malgudi days and R K Narayan, and I immediately remembered the small short story ("Missing Mail") that was in our school curriculum in grade 3 or 4. I also related to a personal story pretty much along the sames lines as the one in the R K Narayan's story. Our postman was very much like the protagonist Thanappa in the story, who always had the nice work for everyone and who went the extra step to help out people even if it was in the smallest way possible and would be offered a glass of buttermilk with all its seasonings when he makes his afternoon mail service in the midst of the sweltering Indian summer.

I remember this one time when i was waiting for my admit card to take my Chartered Accountancy exams and they never showed up. My uncle in Delhi went personally to the examinations department and figured out they had lost the check for the exam fees when they were processing the application. As with almost all professional bodies at that day and age, nobody remembers the student who is going to loose out because they can't take the exams. With just days to spare, I eagerly awaited it everyday. The day our postman spots it in the morning, he headed to our place to hand over the card to me before going his usual route. Not that it is of a lot of significance to most, but it did to an eager 17 year old who was all anxious and ready to take on the first professional examination.

Photo Contest-August

This is my submission for the Picture this photo contest on gardeninggonewild (http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=7067).

I still haven't figured out how to post pictures on my blog. It is still early days and this is my second post. I hope this picture contest is motivation enough to make me write about my gardening adventures.

This picture is from a recent trip to Yosemite national Park. The picture was taken by my husband, my contribution was just to challenge him to capture a clear shot....i was so darned sure he couldn't get a good shot. He was "Down on his knees" (and back) for a long time.

My dream and about Brindavan

The Brindavan Gardens, is famous for its symmetric design. It is one of the most beautifully laid out terrace gardens in the world.

Located in the Krishnaraja Sagar dam site, the Brindavan Gardens is at a distance of 24 Km. from the famous cultural heritage centre of Karnataka – the city of Mysore, and 143 Km. from Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka. The Krishnaraja Sagar dam is built across the river Cauvery, one of the principal rivers in South India.

Having been raised on the banks of river Cauvery, the gardens and the river occupy a special place in my heart. Lush paddy and banana plantations thrive in the rich Cauvery delta.

Interestingly my paternal grandparents house was called "The Brindavan", apt because my grandmother was a big patron of the Jasmine...but is there any south indian woman who isn't. I still have memories of a 80 year old grandmother drawing water from a 150 ft well and carrying it all the way to the front yard to water her Jasmine plants. Different varieties of Jasmine adorned the huge front yard, and they were painstakingly plucked everyday and woven into a string garland that was then adorned in her braids.

Fast forward a few decades and here i am trying to do something impossible....i still have lot of hope left in me. As i finally overcome my laziness to start writing and sharing as i go along this path.

It is my wish to transform the concrete ridden space we bought recently (i hate to even call it a garden) into a pretty and sustainable garden that is not just pleasing to the eye but also one that is environmentally conscious.