Skip to content

Just Like That – Vol.3

People do long for weekends. Don’t they?! TGIF and Monday blues are the trending talks! Proof : Social media! But a weekend is no different than a weekday, at least in my case! I know for sure, I’m neither going to get some rest nor get a minute of ‘me-time’, but I’m happy that I’ve added new (green!) members to my family and I will get to spend my time with them this weekend!

Did I tell you Neela (my aunt) is home today? She ringed the calling bell when I was mixing the lemon rice for lunch! I’m going to spend some quality time with her, too! She’s a teacher and today is her last working day of this academic year! And she’s very happy about it! (An escape from a class full of kids!)

A quick morning selfie!

lancy cv

My New Plants!

I got these little green buddies from a local nursery. I’m not the best person when it comes to gardening but I love EVERY bit of it! (I sometimes try to talk to my plants. Weird?!) Since childhood, I’d always loved growing plants and trees. As a kid, I remember maintaining a garden full of plants, a big mango tree, a custard apple tree.. a papaya tree and few other fruiting trees! (Of course, with the help of my dad). It was fun to water the plants everyday. I had a rooster named Rosy who would accompany me to my garden every evening after I return back home from my school (I was 10!). Only two things I remember about Rosy are – he was the calmest rooster among the three my aunt had; (means he won’t try to attack me!) and he loved eating potato chips, the cream and onion flavor in Lays! (Roo will not eat a it of it! He’s also 100X aggressive compared to Rosy!)

Coming to my garden – my mango tree used to yield at least 500 mangoes every year. My grandpa once told me that he made me plant the tree (from a seed!) when I was a kid. According to him, anything that I planted grew well. I miss both my grandpa and the mango free for all the memories I’m left with today!

Okay. Now that we unfortunately do not have a garden space, I managed to buy some earthen pots; and found out there are too heavy for my liking. As the next step, I’ve already ordered some grow bags! They are yet to reach me. (If you’re wondering, I’ve ordered the grow bags along with potting soil, manure, vermicompost, neem oil, seeds etc from SK Farms, Chennai!)

I so want to know the name of these flowering plants! Any idea?

Same plant! But with orange flowers.

Bush Jasmine! (I also got the vine variety)

New Hibiscus buds! (I’ll be using the leaves and flowers in my hair care recipes!)

hibiscus plant

Lemon tree! (Dad got this almost-dead stem from somewhere; surprisingly, it’s all green now! New life!)

lemon tree

Tulsi! (I shall be preparing a homemade immunity syrup for Mr.M using the leaves; so, this plant!)

tulsi plant

Other than the flowering plants from the nursery, I’ve also sowed a bunch of vegetable and spinach seeds last week.  (The okra plant’s cotyledon leaves are already up! I missed to click it!) You can see the spinach seedlings below! I bought each spinach seed packet for Rs.5 from a local market.

The first one (on the pink plastic tub!) will be ready for the harvest in another 2-3 weeks (It is amaranthus!) whereas the second batch (which is sowed on my plastic sheet-cum-grow bag!) will continue to grow forever, bearing lovely white flowers and small dark fruits. The leaves and fruits are both edible. It is the black nightshade plant; called as ManaThakkali keerai in Tamil! I remember growing it as a kid but I don’t remember the taste! (Anyhow Mr.M wants me eat it since he feels it’s very good for health! I guess he’s turning into my mini dietitian these days!)

I never thought they’d germinate so soon!! (Pure happiness!) Mom promised to come to the mini-garden space and spend time with us (me and the plants) as soon as she feels more better. Surprisingly, she doesn’t say ‘No’ for my plants as she does for other pets! (Aren’t plants your pets too?! I do think this way!)

Spinach – Amaranthus

growing spinach

Black Nightshade seedlings (Sowed before a week!)

growing manathakkali

Sowed vegetable seeds in disposable tea cups! (Chilly, Brinjal, Bitter Gourd, Broad beans etc!)

seed sowing

Again, dad’s plant! A coconut seedling! I’m still in two minds whether to grow/re-home this tree!

coconut tree

Homemade Biryani!

This is the biggest pot of chicken biryani I’d ever cooked in my life! I love cooking biryani; there are many varieties available when it comes to this spicy rice-dish. The preparation time of biryani ranges from as less as 30 minutes to 3 hours or more depending on which the flavor will differ. The dish never fails to impress me as I’m addicted to its taste ever since my childhood! (I remember the days I used to have a delicious plate of biryani at Neela’s place, as a kid! If I don’t get a drumstick on my plate, I used to fight.)

So I made this biryani for 15-20 people who are Babble’s (my elder sibling!) colleagues, for a treat last week. They weren’t visiting us as not to strain my mom, who’s under rest after the treatment – but still Facebooking 24/7 (I hope you’re not reading the post, mom) But she carried the food to her office in her cab! I must admit that it was very tiring to stand in the kitchen for long hours but I was super happy about the outcome. I managed to cook a fail-safe biryani even in larger quantities.

I spared at least 4 drumsticks for myself (and mom!) before packing the stuff! :)

Chicken Dum Biryani!

chicken biryani

Peas Pulao! Vegetarians at my place won’t spare me If I don’t cook this whenever I cook biryani!

peas pulao

Onion Raita!

onion raita

The Guest!

She’s Julie and I named her that! She lives in my street and Tommy never shouts/growls at her. Except for her, everybody else (in the dog family) are Tommy’s rivals. (Read enemies!) He cannot stand a sight of them! He rushes to the porch and shouts till he gets a sore throat if any dog appears in front of the gate! (Except for Julie though. It’s not like he has a crush on her; but a soft corner!)

So Julie hates summer, as much as I do! Whenever I step out to check my baby plants, she comes running towards my gate; wags her tail and tries to say something to me. I offer her fresh, cold (refrigerated) bread along with milk and water. Sometimes, she gets milk rice and chicken. I was surprised to notice how she preferred the clean, cold water more than the food. Blame the summer! I wish the weather subsides very soon. If you’ve a dog near your place, please offer her/him water.. at least water if you cannot offer food! It’s a kind request from me and Julie!

P.S : Do you remember Muffin? Muffin was hated by this Julie, the most! The reason is still unknown. By the way, Muffin is a flood survivor (Chennai floods last year!) She’s one happy adolescent girl living in a loving home now! I can’t be more happier that she got a new family. She’s doing hale and healthy. I wish I could visit her.

Julie!

julie

That’s it for today! I just realized I’d scribbled more than 1000 words which is really a LOT! Talking to you all after a long time, I lost the count! I’ve many more pictures and stories to share with you! I just did not want to start with too many food photographs. My mom strongly believes posting about my food on the internet affects my already-bad appetite. Do you agree with her belief? I’m not sure though but I can’t resist writing and talking about food. Do wait for the pictures!

So what did you do today/this week? Do share your daily happenings below! Let’s have a small chat. If you want me to write on any particular topic, suggestions are most welcome!

Happy weekend!

19 thoughts on “Just Like That – Vol.3”

  1. Lovely blooms. I have some of the plants and herbs in my garden as well. But with the hot weather, despite the tender, loving and care, they are not doing the best. Starting again and hopefully they will grow again.

    1. Hey Nava,

      Thanks for the comment! It’s 37C here in Chennai today! My plants are not their best too; however I moved them to a shady place where they will get only 2-3 hours of sunlight. They’re leafing out well now.

  2. Love all the flower close-ups, so pretty! And please, post more food snaps! I don’t think they’ll awaken your appetite more ;-)

  3. We share this knack for planting in common, Lancy. I’m fond of plants with flowers. Most common ones on my terrace gardenoare rose, jasmine, marigold and periwinkle.
    I roo, use hibiscus leaves and flowers in my hair masks. It leaves my hair calm and smooth :)

    1. Thank you so much Sundari! :) It’s nice to know that your kids love the greens! As a kid, I disliked spinach. I was so stubborn. But now, I love eating dal and spinach with hot rice and a dollop of ghee!

  4. Lancy, the first two photos- those are table roses, my friend. I have a happy green thumb myself. 500 mangoes!!! wow, you really have a green thumb.
    i love living in villas for the reason that we get space to garden, it’s so essential. i love the bush roses, i have one in a pot myself. they are so amazing but they last just a day or two at the max. but the fragrance is amazing, i love this post of yours.

    1. Hey CC! Thank you so much for helping me with the name of the plant. I shall now try to get the seeds online!

      I do love villas too for the very same reason. :)

    1. Hey, Mariyam! Thank you for the comment. And yes, I’ve interesting things to do though I stay at home and I’m lucky for that! :)

      And Julie is cute indeed! She’s one amazing girl.

  5. Gardening is such a relaxing activity. I used a spend a lot of time during my college days gardening, it was only potted plants, but it made me happy. Loved reading your post lancy.

    1. Hey Sangeeta,

      I’m glad that you loved reading my post! Gardening is really a relaxing hobby! I totally agree with you.

      Isn’t that challenging to grow plants in our Chennai summer?

  6. I have always wanted to grow vegetables in my garden. Have tried it once also. But the coriander, mint, cucumber, tomato which were all tiny plants once gets dried. Me and my mom are not really sure about what has happened. I really appreciate the idea of gardening blog but at the same time I am affraid of losing your posts from MABH because you have a tight schedule now itself ?

    1. Haha you’re SO true Sana! Gardening blog is just a thing running on my mind. I may do it in future once I get some me time. Not now for sure since I’m already occupied with things.

      It’s nice to know that you tried growing greens and veggies. How much sunlight did they receive? Small seedlings need less than 2 hours of sunlight (in Indian weather) if not, they wilt quickly.

      Next time, do keep the plants in a shady spot where sunlight falls for an hour or two maximum. Water them only twice a day; till the soil gets wet to touch but not dripping wet. Try fenugreek greens. They’re super easy to grow.

      All the best! :)

      1. Thanks a lot for your reply. You are kind enough to get into the details of the issue and find solutions for me. I will obviously try it as you said, once my mom is back home :D

Leave a Reply