MrMowgli turned 5 on 1st of February! We treated him to some low-fat pup cakes from a newly discovered dog cake baker. Low fat because he was diagnosed with pancreatitis early last year and that made him very sick – since then he is on a vet prescribed diet. But everyone deserves a treat for their birthday 😃
I may sound biased but I think he is the cutest golden retriever ever 🙂 He understands ‘Walk’ in both Hindi and English and now even springs to attention if we spell it out as W-A-L-K 😃 He is so smart, yet, he thinks a little safety gate needs to be respected and not knocked over. He is big enough to jump over it but he sits behind it and calls out .. oh my heart.. isn’t he the cutest ?!
He still checks on the girls each night, but here’s the funny thing. He waits to be invited into MsA’s room, but strolls right into MsAn’s. When he is sleeping on our bed, SP asks him nicely to move, he just looks at him lovingly and wags his tail.. I don’t even have to be looking at him and just say the words – “off the bed” and he jumps off and sighs at me 😃
Presenting the beautiful boy that rules our hearts and home 😍
The girls are back at school for Face-to-Face learning – the last regular year of regular school was 2019. Seems almost surreal, but we know it’s real. We lived through the fear and panic of COVID-19, the crippling isolation of lockdowns shortage of essential goods and much more.
Testing twice a week for regular monitoring is the way forward and the first time we did the test, we were all holding our breaths- the girls took turns being human timers for each other. But negative test results meant that they were able to start school on their designated days.
Here’s hoping and praying for a full year of regular school for my kids and all the kids across the globe.
Diwali is round the corner and it’s time to shake the lockdown fatigue and welcome some well deserved cheer. Restrictions in Melbourne have eased at the right time too. We were invited to a Diwali celebration last night and that put us all in a festive mood.
I am still waiting for my Diwali-in-a-box from my dad & sister thanks to quarantine delays, it’s time to put on my adult hat on and bring some festive furor in my little home with little touches of decoration here and there, massive decluttering & yelling at everyone to help clean( I am not very popular right now) and of course preparing traditional treats – Diwalicha Faral . Faral is a mix of sweet and savoury snacks prepared lovingly at home.
I grew up in a traditional Maharashtrian home and the delicious aroma of besan & ghee roasting wafting from the kitchen signalled that Diwali was here. I remember my mom and grandmother roasting 1-2 kgs of besan in a massive kadhai(wok) till their arms were about to fall off and then roll the laddus till their fingers were aching . There were big steel dabbas ( calling a dabba canister just doesn’t invoke those happy memories 😄) filled to the brim with laddus that we would sneak around to get our hands into.
I had shared this recipe a few years ago, sharing again, if you want to attempt it.
This morning, MsA’s smile when I told her what I was cooking reminded me of my own joy as a child. However, this time I had a little help from my newest kitchen toy, my Thermomix. The girls have named her Therma 😊 Therma did all the roasting for me & then I roasted the besan & ghee mix in the pan for another 5 minutes to get the colour of my choice.
MsAn bantered on about how she doesn’t like laddu & I only cook what MsA likes. She wants Gulab Jamun. I have challenged myself to make some now – of course you will hear about it whether it’s a success or a failure 😄
For now, my house smells beautiful.. Diwali vibes are on. Roasted besan, cardamom, incense… and my heart is happy! I hope to share some more recipes over the next couple of days 🙂
I have a day off today and had big plans to study but spent most of my morning hanging out in my room, staying out of the way of those who are studying and working. I had Mr.Mowgli for company and used my time wisely to make some phone calls that were long overdue .
And now, it’s lunch time, I made myself a cup of packet soup (Asian Laksa, in case you are curious) and decided to settle down for some studying. But one child is using my laptop and another has occupied my office. I could use the work tablet to sign in but I try to keep work and school separate, so here I am 😊 Just stopping by to say hello and document a few things.
So, we are in Lockdown 6.0 – it seems never ending and COVID fatigue or Lockdown fatigue has kicked in big time. It’s knocked me out for the sixes that’s for sure. The girls are unhappy about logging in from home as well. The only person that seems unaffected is SP. But, then he is an introvert and was also used to this style of working pre-COVID.
Don’t worry, this post is not going to be all doom and gloom. Today is a bright sunny day and that’s making me smile. Last week I also started a new role professionally. And that is super exciting too. The only downer is that I had to do an online handover for the last role and do my own onboarding online. But my new team leader is lovely and set me up for one on one with all the members of the team through out the week, so that was nice.
Usually on my day off, I am bustling around in the kitchen doing the laundry and any other mundane tasks that are pending from the week/weekend. Today, I just decided to give myself a break . And now I am trying to beat the iPad that has 15% battery left, to finish this post.
Today reminds me of the time when I was a 20-something newly wed, living in Toronto or a suburban American town, not a care in the world. I would wake up, make myself a cup of tea and log in to chat with friends and family in India, write a blog post ( although I do regret not starting a blog in those early years) ,craft, watch a movie, go to the library- you get the idea. But obviously, that’s not an option now..working full time, having kids mean more responsibilities. But, every now and again,having a day like this helps.
SP took a photo of MrMowgli and me this morning:) sharing it here to remind myself to take a break every now and again 🙂
MsAn has returned my laptop, so I should try and get some studying done before they finish school for the day. Also in the time that it took me write this post, with interruptions, the weather has changed from sunny to cloudy and there was a quick hail shower too – that’s Melbourne weather for you. But my mood is cheery now 🙂
