Pillow?

Did I not tell you that I will  be back with more posts on Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum???


So here I am with a picture of one of the exhibits in the museum...
 
Can you guess what these are?

 

They are the head-rests used by the Egyptians while sleeping. They are supposed to be very comfortable. There are made of wood or ivory. Weird, ain't it?

Lady in Waiting – A Book Review

This book is about two ladies who are from different centuries and the only connection between them is their first name (Jane) and a betrothal ring. One Jane is an antique shop owner in the US and the other Jane is the 9-day Queen of England in the 16^th century. The similarity and contrast between the two Janes is very interesting. I could not help reading page after page to know about Jane, the Queen; to find out about her history and also the history of the ring. At the same time, I could not help having a lot of feelings for the Jane whose husband kept her in the waiting.

There are many scenes in the story that are very close to my heart. But I am not sure if I should write about them here. I do not want this review to be a spoiler to the people who have not read the book. 

All in all this book can be a good company during travel or on a lazy Sunday. It is not advisable to start it on a working day (as I did); for you shall have a tough time controlling your urge to read amidst work! J

My knowledge in the history of England was almost nil and this novel started a new interest in me. I started searching about the Royal lineage and now, I am eagerly waiting for a book on Queen Elizabeth to be shipped home. History intrigues me and I am always interested  in finding out more about women of those days. The combination of both - as in the case of Queen Jane or Queen Elizabeth is deadly!

I somehow have a feeling that male readers may not like this book. This might be because the book is a little on the emotional side.

A big thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for providing a complimentary book for review. It has revived my love for reading!

Dosa Making

While I spoke with Viji Athai(aunt), the inevitable talking of cooking sprang up. And when I told her that we got dosa mix for making dosas during weekend, she was asking if Yamuna was going to join us!!! Well, everyone knows that if we need dosas, it has to be Yamuna who would be the one spreading the batter on the pan and flipping the dosa until it becomes crisp and yummy! :)

Even after one full year of being the head chef of the kitchen... Not that Vikram does not cook... He does and there are a couple of dishes that he excels in and those are the ones that I don't even know how to make!!! Anyway getting back to me being the head chef of our kitchen... It is just two of us, so there is ample opportunity for trying out new stuff or improving my culinary skills.. But that never happens, because I do not like cooking!

Even during the time when I was with my sisters, I would prefer them cooking rather than me! But what we did was to divide the tasks amongst ourselves. So, Ganga was good at making bhendi fry and rolling round chapatis while I was good at making the mixed vegetable pulao. But the one thing that I could never do, was to try making dosas. I never had a chance to try because Yamuna was very good at it. Even now I do not know the knack of spreading the batter evenly on the tawa to make a thin round and crispy dosa.

Last weekend, while Vikram and I struggled to make dosas using the dosa mix batter, I was dreaming of getting Yamuna closer to our home, so that we would have the privilege of having yummy homemade dosas that are large and perfectly round without any tears and those that are evenly spread and nicely cooked on both the sides. Now you can imagine how bad our dosas came out! Anyway, I am proud to say that my hubby makes better dosas than me!!! That will help me get around the task of making dosas. I can peacefully eat them while he makes them for me! Oops...! Did I tell out the truth?

Anyhow, the truth is I will always remember and miss Yamuna whenever and wherever I see dosas... Needless to say that this post is dedicated to her and not to dosas!!! :-)

Post-it Cat

Our library has a lot of books on crafts and I love to go through them and drool over all that I can do. I satisfy myself with just that. But once in a while, when something really catchy shows up, I can't help pushing away my laziness and take up the creative project. This is one such project.

I wish I could remember the name of the book where I saw this. I have already returned the book to the library. How sad!

This cat is first cut out of cardboard and then a thin sponge/batting is cut out in the same shape and stuck to the cardboard. Then the slightly bigger size of the cat is cut from fabric and stuck onto the batting/sponge so that the fabric wraps over the edge and is glued to the back.

We can stick post-it stuff to it or hold up the do-it notes using pins. There is also a kitten made from fabric that is stuck to the cat forming a pocket. This can hold scribbling pad or post-it notes or pen/pencil.

It is nice and cute and useful too, ain't it?! :)

My first quilt!

I am so excited to show you all the first quilt that I ever made. Thanks to Donna and her blog and her patient replies to all my silly queries!

I started out to make a quilt of crib-size but it has ended up being much smaller than that. As Donna suggested, I added the borders to make it a little bigger.


V helped me coming up with a nice design and also in selecting the fabrics.

I selected the least favorite fabric for the reverse side of the quilt. And I joined both the fabric by hand stitching. I used my machine to sew the edges of the quilt. All this took me whole of my weekend. I did not want to get my first quilt wrong. So, I worked slow.

Now, I am confused whether to use this quilt to decorate my wall or our love-seat. Any ideas? :)

Good Old Days - Orange Tree

These days, I love the walk from home to our grocery store. The reason being the Orange trees. They could be lemon trees too. But they bring so much joy to me. What fond memories they invoke in me!

One of my very first childhood memories is of running along a series of holes in the mud and putting one seed in each hole. I must have been 2 or 3 years old then. 

Later the saplings that grew from those seeds were transplanted and now it has grown into a huge Orange tree. Last time we went to Srikakulam, Amma pointed out the tree to me and reminded me of the first tree I planted! 

Around the time of my wedding, it had borne a basketful of oranges too! I see a connection there, do you? :)