Soft idli, sambar my mom made for breakfast. I love the carrots so she makes sure to pack extra just for me every time. One of my favorite South Indian breakfast dishes. I always take it with ghee; which makes the flavor much better.This is my small red car with all the scratches/dents I made in the first several months of driving it. I told myself I’d only get it fixed once I went 10 months without a single new scratch (I had recently learned to drive, and this not-a-single-scratch threshold for someone like me is very challenging considering I drive in the busy streets of Chennai), and last month, I won my self-imposed challenge 🙂 The entire body is fixed now. All good and shiny. This is my first car, and very close to my heart.One random day, before I drove somewhere. I forgot where to. But in recent months, my skin has not been so good. I had an episode of hormonal acne (Or allergic? I do not know). My skin is healing. I am using turmeric mostly.Flowers Dad picked for me on a random day.. 🙂This was when Dad, Mom, and I went to Periyapaalayam one day. (Mom asked me to stop at this small temple because she wanted to be there) My parents were visiting there after 20 years. I just wanted to click a picture of how her hair looked from behind. Will I have hair like that when I am 68? I really hope the genes work in my favor..On our way back, we drove to Thiruvallur so they could visit another temple. Walking hand in hand, talking about old times. A wonderful day for me to recall. It was a day trip, and I was very happy to drive them. As a kid, I remember going to these places with them.. nagging them to get me lotus flowers everywhere I spotted them..On the way back.. Listening to Dad’s jokes.The white lotus dad got for me from one of the temples we visited. Went into to my DIY fountain once we were back home… 🤍I love this red maxi dress. I pair it with my pearl necklace gifted by Babble. (my sister) Please ignore my dirty mirror, we were in the middle of a deep clean weekend..No caption. Just a random tired face someday.Random day on the couch.. I was having a good hair day.Lemons tree on our porch. I picked some of the leaves to decorate my fountain..Picked a few lemons..How lovely and juicy they look! We had fresh lemonade season throughout July and August.Another temple day out, days later.. He always helps her get down the stairs.One of my favorite pictures of these two from the last two months.. How delightful is it to see your parents in love.Asking Dad for the handbag.. (For some reason, she trusts him to hold it for her sometimes.. Not so much the other times. I do not understand what goes in her head) I love her mehendi in this picture..😊A selfie before we start from home.. 🙂Thiruneermalai temple. My parents were, again, visiting this temple after almost 20 years. They felt nostalgic and watched the surroundings with awe.. Dad didn’t want to change into pants since we were going to be in the car the entire time, so Mom let him be 😊At the entrance of the temple.Another favorite picture of mine 🙂 Lucky and immensely grateful to be a part of their life.Back home. Taking a break before she could change her saree. She loves this blue saree..A random antique brass plate with drain holes. I wash vegetables in it when I cook with only one bell pepper or very few vegetables. Comes in handy. Looks beautiful to my eyes because it has aged well.Button roses on my balcony on the first floor.. They’re in their blooming season…I did not know if I was supposed to do this. But I could not stand this leather sofa being unclean. Internet people tell me I can clean it with a damp cloth, and there was so much dirt. I’m ordering mink oil.. How do you usually protect your leather? I’m new to leather maintenance and in the initial years of homemaking. I could ask my dad.. But I’ll be happy to hear from you too, if you have the experience.. Please leave me your thoughts in the comments below.Another random day.. I wear these cotton salwars very often. They’re so comfortable. I purchased them online from a local store. Surprisingly, they fit me well, except they’re a bit short at the ankle.. I often wear this Kani shawl with my salwars.
There ends August… September begins..
This is dinner on a weekday before watching a TV show. I rarely watch TV by myself (in my lanuage and in this context, rarely is once or twice a year), but when I do, I like to have pleasant food in front of me. Otherwise, I insist that people dine properly at the table and then sit to watch TV. (The regular television ones).. But I will make you buttered or flavored popcorn anytime and let you snack on it in front of the TV 🙂 Just dine properly before you go watch TV. Ok?Homemade blueberry jam I made from fresh berries! Goes so well with the croissants. (The croissants aren’t homemade though) I wanted to match food with the TV show..😊Frangipani’s dad picked for me one day 🙂 They smell lovely..I used to wear heels in my pre-teen years, and then I had a gap of many years. It was all flats for a while. Not even platforms.. Recently, I picked this one up, and I wear it whenever I want..I am limiting myself to 5 pairs if I start shopping for them again. 🙂 Starting with block heels, just to get comfortable first..This is a 3 or 4 carat oval moissanite, not a diamond. I wanted to see how it reflects light (whether it goes all rainbows or not) compared to my proper diamond solitaires. (Let me know if you want to see them; I will post a picture) I also did not want to spend money on another natural diamond in the near future. (The ones I currently wear are a birthday gift from my sister).. Solitaires… they get more expensive with each increasing carat. (And I don’t want the same carat twice, for some reason) Also, I am saving for the dream homestead, so no natural diamonds at least for the next few years.. What do you think? Should I commission this/customize it into a necklace pendant because I still like how it looks? (not too many rainbows, well cut in Jaipur) Or should I not let moissanites into my life and wait for future diamonds? What are your thoughts?Random day; drove to the nearest mall. (Phoenix, Chennai) I ended up buying not a single thing. I walked and walked and came back home. I have a feeling I went there only to see how comfortable I feel walking with my heels on in public again.. I fared well 🙂 (I’m not dressing up yet, so please excuse my shaggy clothes in these posts… until I fix my wardrobe)That’s dad.. Holding flowers for me, on the way back home from somewhere. These were a bit dull from the sunny afternoon; I wanted them to perk up once they went into my vase.. But they did not 🙁One of my favorite varieties because they crisp well and do not go gooey.. I was supposed to make frozen fries with them. But they sprouted. I moved them to the balcony garden now for planting. I’ve bought big grow bags lately. The rectangular ones that almost mimic a raised bed. I can’t wait for us to move to the outskirts of the city, so I can grow everything I want on the ground.Carrot fries! 🙂 I love them so much, especially when the carrots are fresh and crunchy.. So much flavor. Also, I make them in my dual-basket air fryer. With less than half a teaspoon of oil.. Makes a lovely snack.At the mall..I loved this top, but it was a snatched fit, almost like a corset. I haven’t worn something like that in years, so I am going to skip this one for now. But I really, really want to get comfortable wearing these again..I picked this one. I love the color; also, cardigans are my favorite.. easiest things to wear.I got this too. A lovely peachy-pink rib knit cardigan. The fabric looked like it would last..She’s our grandmother, Kalyaana Sundari. My favorite nonagenarian in 2026. Every time I am around her, just in her presence, I feel loved, and I often feel guilty about how little I get to see her. She comes to her balcony to wave goodbye when we leave.. The last time I visited her, I had a feeling I should spend more time with her.This is me preparing the base before hosting a Saturday lunch.. 🙂And Saturday is here 🙂We had 8 guests. A few vegetarians. Everything turned out very well, just as I wanted 🙂 I couldn’t make watermelon juice at the last minute, but I made a herbed lemonade with peppermint we grow.. (I couldn’t photograph the drink).. But the day went so well.. What a pleasure to host and have people around.. 😊Mint rasam for vegetarians… and then chicken bone broth.. (I made it into an Indian style rasam) I pan-fried seer fish with thyme, chilli, and pepper… lemon and butter. The flavor paired up well with white rice.. And for vegetarians, I roasted soy chunks.. (And they had paneer as well)Mushroom biryani with white button mushrooms… in my lightweight enamel bowl.. (I hand wash it)Haryali chicken drumsticks (I roasted them a bit too much, but they turned out alright), Haryali paneer, Mutton gravy with coconut milk in the dutch oven (classic South Indian, recipe inspired by my mother) and my regular chocolate cake (topped with fresh juicy blueberries) for a burst of flavor at the end of the meal…Another day, randomly checking my eyeballs… (in a good way) 😊A short drive with my dad 😊 He’s happy to be outside in the mornings… when the sun is out..This one is not in his best behavior lately. He bites people. Otherwise, a lovely cat who comes to our doorstep during the day for treats. Except for the recent biting. How to get him to stop?This is me trying to have a trial product shoot for my brand at home with my camera. Then I gave up. This is a beautiful, huge Sony ZV-E1 with the 35mm 1/2 lens.. But I think I am just a terrible photographer. My phone photos look better than the ones I click with these, (problem is me, not the camera) so I gave up and postponed the shoot for another day.. Or I might delegate the task to someone good with the camera. All the pictures in this blog post are taken with my Samsung phone .. If I just do not learn to use the camera at all, I should find a phone that takes better pictures. Should I?) But. I also want to say goodbye to the smartphone and go back to a Nokia.. What do I do? 😔This is a random day I tried to make dessert with the leftover bread I had in the fridge (Previously I made some bread pakodas that turned out great, on a rainy day..)And this one tasted not so well for my liking….I put the spoon down after I took two bites. I browned the bottom so much that the top ended up soft (I was aiming for a milk-custard flavor, it was similar..) but the bottom was chewy, not in a good way. (the knife would not cut through)… For some reason, I could not get myself to like or finish it. And I do not force myself to..Dad was picking flowers for my mailbox.. I got it from him on the way 🙂 I blogged about this morning earlier.This is how it came out of the dishwasher one morning. Cracked. And now I have an uncomfortable feeling about the rest of the five bowls.. What do you do if one piece of a soup bowl or anything of this kind cracks or breaks?Maggi launched a spicy cheesy flavor recently in my country, and I had to try it. (Mom would not approve) But this is a guilty pleasure. It tastes delicious, surprisingly, considering how I do not enjoy new variations at all normally 🙂I loaded it with vegetables and paneer to balance out the spiciness and add some fibre. Yumm..Purple, the first sight in the morning as I get down the stairs to the living room.. how pleasant..and some sunflowers in the last week of September.. 💛Goes next to the purple flowers.. Sunflowers make the entire house feel pleasant, vibrant, and take focus away from the mess.. What do you think? Do you like sunflowers in your space?My blogger profile that I was checking after years yesterday… and before updating it, I wanted to capture a picture 🙂 I miss our old blogging days.. Pre-autocorrect era. The personal blogging era. How I wish I could go back there..
