Blessed!!

Been a week or more that we came back from our vacation and we have settled down. Finally I am able to sleep through the nights instead of walking around the house like a nocturnal being. My kids are back to playing in their yards.

 

A couple of them jumping on their trampoline and another couple of them on the swing..

 

Its been mulling in my head that I needed to  thank a lot of people. A lot of people had a hand in making this trip of mine successful. There’s a lot one leave’s behind that cannot be taken along during vacations. Like, the plants, our pet, our home.

I feel like thanking our friends who had housed Hobbes during our vacation.  In the short time, that they had known Hobbes, their family had gotten so attached to him, that it had been a shock for them to see Hobbes die like he did. They had their own setting, where they had to inform their kids that Hobbes was not coming back from the Hospital. 

Not to forget,  how my friend had stocked my refrigerator with curries and other authentic Indian entries so, Pavan would have no dearth of food at home while we were gone. She didn’t have to do all this, nor did we expect any such thing but, she did!!. Pavan was very lucky, since she is a very fine cook.   I am still licking my fingers of the eggplants curry I found in the refrigerator during one of the jetlagged nights, when I was combing the kitchen for some food. This is one front, I never perfected in all these years, that’s, how to cook eggplant, especially, the Andhra dish called Gutti Vankai. My In-laws still cringe when I shop for eggplants. Pavan is very passionate about this dish. I can still hear Pavan almost yelling at the hotel chef in Hyderabad, “You people really don’t know what is Gutti Vankai, Hyderabadi’s don’t know Gutti Vankai (stuffed eggplant), You have made Bagara Baingan, and I asked for Gutti Vankai”.  Not getting too distracted before getting to thank my friend. Thanks “D” for those yummy dishes.

Thanks to my other neighbors who took time to keep a watch over my plants for me. It had been a very hot and dry summer. I came back to find all my plants doing well.   I came back to find the cardinals, cannas, salvias flowering.

                                      The picture of the cardinal from my garden with the Cannas in the background giving that yellow glow around it.

Even the clementis paniculate came to full bloom

 

Most of the other flowers had already been spent. The only plants I lost were the ones that Pavan left inside the home. Duh!! couldn’t he have just left those outside to Zoe’s care! Debra and Zoe had been such a great team and made sure that my plants survived this hot and dry spell.

By the time we had been able to get out of the airport, the day we got back from our vacation, it was almost late afternoon and had been a long time since the kids had eaten or slept.  We had two people pick us up from the airport, one of them was our relative while the other was a friend. Both of them had gone out of their way to help get us and our baggage's home.  One of them, had taken a long drive to our home and picked up our van from our home and taken another 2 hour drive to reach us at the airport, while the other had brought his van to pick us up. Along with him, he also brought lunch for all of us. It was a complete Indian lunch with starters entries and curd rice to finish it. All this prepared by his wife who is pregnant and is still dealing with morning sickness.

Its said that we can pick our friends but we cannot pick our neighbors and this can be a curse sometimes. In my case, it has been nothing but blessing all the way. We have been blessed on every front, be it friends or neighbors.

P.S. Here is the picture of the almost 5 feet terra cotta wind chime I brought from Hyderabad. I’ve yet to find the right spot to hang it.