11 Comments 
A brilliant performer, bougainvillea does well in hot Houston summer. Passionately colorful, passionately vibrant, passionately floriferous – they remind me of bright, eye-catching, gorgeously swirling Rajastani dresses of Bharath.
We had neighbourhood Diwali party this week. One of the activities we did was make clay diyas. I made those two and jeweled them for that festive Diwali feel. It was a nice thing to do with family and friends.
I made bala Ganapati with clay today for Vinayaka Chaviti festival tomorrow. The decorations are with kumkum, turmeric and rice powder. Eyes are whole urad dal (minapa pappu) and the laddu is dotted with skinless, split mustard seeds. It’s a simple vigraham, still looks divine to my eyes.
Vinayaka Chavithi shubhakamnaye! May Bhagavan Ganesha bless us all with peace, happiness and health!
Thank you Sachin, Vaijayanthi, Rashmi, Narayan Swamy, Sireesha and Chaitanya for sharing your Ganesha with us.
-Indira
—————–
On summer break. Will be back in August.
—————–
Peruvian lilies or Lilies of Inca are pretty flowers. They are inexpensive here in Houston, and I buy them sometimes. I like how they instantly bring spring sunshine like warmth to the home.
Happy, flower filled July 4th weekend!
Support Mahanandi and Shop Amazon through this link.
Wanted: Food writers for Indiaphile website.
My deepest condolences to Dr.Sinha’s family. May God bless him and his family during this time and always.
Every kitchen garden needs a healthy combination of both herbs and vegetable plants, and nothing beautifies the homestead like flowers. Cilantro is a great annual herb with memorable fragrance, flavor, and flowers. This old-time herb sprouts from coriander seeds, grows compact, flowers prolifically, sets seed gladly and reseeds with ease, offering a perpetual, perennial-like performance in the kitchen garden. The whole cilantro plant, from fresh leaves, flowers, root to seeds have valuable roles in the kitchen and many culinary uses.
I noticed that cilantro loves warm and humid Houston weather. I let my cilantro bloom this spring and then fruit. When seeds are plump, I removed the plants and arranged them in a flower vase to air-dry. They made a beautiful arrangement and filled the home with wonderful coriander fragrance. It makes me happy to think that in about a week when they are dried, I could harvest home-grown coriander seeds.
When you plan a party, giving your guests, particularly to the little ones party favors that will be appreciated is a nice way to say ‘thanks for coming.’ This budget friendly and fun to assemble candy train is always a hit with the kids. We need a packet of life savers, double mint, and few Hershey varieties. Attach them with a glue stick for body, wheels and whistle of the train. And, hear the delighted squeals.
A soothing sunset serenade. That is what I had imagined when I started this needlepoint design. It took me nearly two months to complete the 16″x18″ project, and now decorates our home in a homemade frame. The pretty lady serenades us to sleep with her gentle harp playing.
Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (and a wonderful weekend to those non-US readers too). We spent the day with friends and of course eating too much food. It was a classic Indian celebration: curries and koftas, conversation about movies, cacophonic games, more food and then to home to sweet slumber.
For sweet slumber, some good pillows with pretty covers are required. So, I have hand embroidered two pillowcases last week. The design is store bought, printed on the fabric and it is a cross stitch and embroidery combination. The stitches are not perfect but I love how pristine and peaceful the pillows look with the new covers.
I enjoy cross stitch very much. It’s relaxing to perform, enriching to learn and produces such varied and attractive end results. If you have been wondering about the lack of updates on the website lately, this is the reason. The art form is absorbing and I have been working on a Mandala cross stitch design for sofa pillow covers.
The beautiful Mandala design is courtesy of a wonderful website called The Floss Box. I downloaded the pattern, printed it on a paper and traced the design on to a pillow cover and started stitching it. It is a simple design, requires only few color threads and will be done in two to three days. I have planned this design for four pillow covers. Three are done, one more to go.
Staypressed theme by Themocracy
