Adittys on a weekend

Aditty  is mighty possessive of our stuff

When my MIL took my bag" That is Amma's bag!!"

When Navy's cousin began to drive our car " NOOOOO!! this is Appa's place" and she began to wail 

When Navy slept on my side of the bed" This is Amma's bed/ bed sheet, etc"
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When I was reading Goldilocks she asked what Porridge was- I said "Kanji"
She corrected me wisely " No amma, it is payasam."


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We had a lot of fun and food at a family do on Sunday.

And got some good export stuff from the Tiripur kind of shop at Wilson Gardens.

Read the latest Lee Child and was disappointed.


We missed the Tree walk this Sat courtesy Pratham at LalBagh.

We managed a visit to the Spaghetti Kitchen and loved it. Must try the pizza there- a real cracker!
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And today I would have had 5lac clicks to this blog. Hm.....In about five years. And 93 followers- many of who do not visit or comment anymore.....Not great but not bad.

Aha ! Oho!

Aditi's first attempt at art. She had fun. And I felt it fit right into the Rangeela theme at Artsy Craftsy. So here we go. The youngest member of the Artnavy family!

Spent time with the wonderful R&S family at Rangasankara. Anush managed to attend two story sessions. I was disappointed we missed Vayu Naidu. Till next time then!

Aditi had a haircut - I only let the parlour do it post their assurance that her curls will grow out again- wait and watch now... She certainly looks naughtier with this hair style.

Blog break

Taking a break from blogging. Will see you in a while.

1000

Just realised this is my 1000th post on this blog.

Encounters

Instead of snaps of of the birds and crocs we encountered, here is a snap from the journey to Ranganthittu.

In a chance encounter, a blog reader happened to see Ansuh at her school and recognised her and wrote in. Small world!!

Anushka insisted on carrying the payasam/ kheer made today at home, for her classmates in school. She was very excited with the paper cups that she has taken along to serve them in!

Happy Pongal, Lohri, Sankranti!! Loved the Google image today.

900!!

I have been at it for over 4 yrs now and have managed 900 posts!

Happy memories!

Happy 4th !!

4 years ago this blog was born.

Thanks to Anush & Aditi, books & movies, Chennai & Bangalore who make good subjects!

Thanks family and new found friends who still read on.

Thanks fellow bloggers who inspire .

Most of all thanks to those of you who leave behind comments which encourage and empathise!

Do visit my latest review of an audiobook at Saffron Tree

Thumbleena

Anush has done these 2 finger paintings.
No hand holding ( or finger holding by me)

One is cactii. The other is a lady bug- from the book The grouchy ladybug by Eric Carle published by an arm of Karadi tales. ...a fun and educative book that Anush loves.

Via Print Lover and Starry saw this really cool blog with a contest where she could share it better than on this blog. Do check out the submissions- they are mind blowing!

On a related note- we recently got the Thumb Thumb series which Tulika launched with much fanfare a few months ago. Not yet got around to reading them yet but this would be a good way to begin.

Art on a Platter

Blogeswari was generous to get these plates done for my kitchen through Rashmi of Fluke Design.

And not just that, she got me an incredibly engaging wooden cat which works like a jigsaw and turns into a jewelery box. ( see in set in the above pic)

Anush assumed it was for her and I was surprised that she mastered dismantling and putting it together before her dad came back that night.

We attended a wedding at MRC hall, of a relative from my mother's side. This is the first time I visited that hall and it is splendid. There are ramps for the handicapped, clean spacious lifts, anti skid and dry loos, the ac works like a dream, the staff is courteous, the parking is ample and so on. . .

Ganesh - Kumaresh were the performers that night and that was simply beautiful. See Anush's severely engrossed expression as she observes them. But i do wonder how these artists are okay with all the noise around??!!

In terms of the return gift I was glad to see wooden parrot key chains instead of a steel/ plastic dabba.

Somehow food in marriages/ functions in Chennai is never made as brilliantly as at home/ restaurants or even to the level of B'lore or Mumbai. Even if the spread is lavish, the taste is never up to the mark. Or maybe just my luck, that in the last 10 years in Chennai, just 2 large functions where I thought the food was good.

The weekend that was

Artnavy unveiled- An unfamiliar face comes up to me at Shopper's stop and asks a little hesitantly " You are Art?" I knew that it had to be a blogger or a blog reader. She had recognised me because of Anush. She turned out to be a young lady from Pune who had moved to Chennai a year ago. So my not so little one is a celeb of sorts- this is a third time for me, that someone who reads the blog, but doe snot know me otherwise, has spotted and identified us!!

Sing Along- complete paisa vasool for any child between 2- 7 yrs. The ladies were energy personified. Navy felt I could easily have been a part of the troupe- with my singing- dancing ability and energy levels. I was really flattered by the compliment.

All the children/ and most parents had a ball. We are back with a cd that the group released and a new favourite song for Anush- Ring Ring by Abba. Her improvised lyrics include" Ring Ring why don't you give me a call? .. why don't you pick up the call?........... why did you not lift the phone?"!!

Haji Ali Juice Centre- visited it and I loved the fruit cream and the typical grill sandwich. However Navy did not relish anything at all. So this restaurant gets a mixed rating from artnavy. Also it is not on Greams Road proper, you need to take the left into the Dhaba express street as you enter from Mount Road.

We took a new found relative and now friend to Harry Potter- Half Blood Prince at Mayajaal. Despite being a Chennaite this was her first trip to Mayajaal! We enjoyed the movie and Anush found it excruciatingly lengthy. Her one very logical question was" Why are they not going to class if this is school amma?"

Anush revealed a child's innocence/ lack of diplomacy, when she asked this attractive single girl of 25, " You have a baby in your stomach? It looks like that!" Whatever she may have felt, the lady was very cheerful in brushing aside this comment.

April's Fool in May

I think blogger thought is was April Fools Day in May.

Yesterday I tried very hard to log in, at various points in time, from various computers, to find myself booted out of blogger on this blog!!

So i even set up this new blog home and intimated a few dear ones in the blog world.

All is well today and I am back here.
But the next time you find me missing, you will know where to look for me right?

Blog Action Day

I have been blogging for 2 yrs now and with about 430 posts done, I felt that I should participate in this cause.

Blog Action Day is about mass participation and anyone is free to join in. There is no limit on the number of posts, the type of posts or the direction of thoughts and opinions.
In 2008 the aim is to focus the blogging community’s energies and passions on the mammoth issue of global poverty.

My post is focussed on the efforts of Kaakkum Karangal which does not even have a website as I know. They are a Chennai based NGO, which supports orphans, the aged and ill treated women.

They accept donations - nothing is too small- you can donate in kind and in cash.
They value your time as well - you could choose to spend it with the old or the young.

Annually we make a contribution to them on Anushka's bday. We receive hand written letters of thank you from the child whose education and care the money funds.

I know this is not enough but it is a start, a small step from us.

And another thought, most of us in India have maids ( who are often unreliable) let us not cringe to increase their pay annually. It need not be based on the market rate. After all we enjoy our annual increment as well don't we? And in most cases their salary is what we would spend on one dinner at a good restaurant. And if we feel the money will not be put to good use, let us educate their child- pay for their books or school term fees , anything to help.