15 Marbles

Moments.Musings.Memories. ❤️Gathering little marbles from ordinary days and keeping them for our memory jar. ❤️

  • Hello,my lovelies!
    Hope you are doing well. My laptop is back and so am I. When I didn’t have a laptop at my disposal,I kept wanting to write so many things. But, when I got my laptop,I was very sad..for reasons,that I will talk about another time..and didn’t feel like writing.
    Anyway,so much to share..
    First off,I have postponed my drive test.. I was just getting too stressed..I still have a bit of learning to do- 3 point turns,reverse parking,safe merging on the highway(which is mandatory in our zone),driving just 5-10kms lower that the speed(I am still driving atleast 20kms lower) -Anyway,the bottomline is.. all the stress was making me more and more nervous and as a result I was making more mistakes.I am much more relaxed after the decision to postpone..I will now be taking the test,sometime next month. In the mean-time,I am driving around as much as possible.. even without Dee(my instructor) and SD…I have taken to shamelessly,begging friends to accompanying me.:D Or else,a tired SD gets dragged out at night.
    And now for some pregnancy news..
    We are officially in the third trimester- the last stretch..I am getting bigger.. my tummy is getting bigger.. I am happy this time,so far I am still not getting any huger than I already was.. If anything,I am still able to wear my normal tops and have got a couple maternity yoga pants. In fact, I am happy to be still wearing a size 16!!! yayyyy 🙂 I was recently talking to a friend and realized,how good it is for your ego to dress up smartly..All through my last pregnancy,I wore loose tent-like clothes,and felt like a hag.. this time,just little well-fitted but still comfortable clothes,have done heaps of good to my ego..and I feel beautiful..despite being huge!
    Babykins is kicking more and more and I have started feeling BHCs from time to time. The toilet breaks are coming sooner:D
    Babushka is getting clingier as time goes..I think the fact that I am not as physical with her as before,is making her nervous all of a sudden. She actually asked me,the other day,”Mumma,will you still love me,after the baby comes?” I hugged her tight and said,”Of course,I will!” And then,the little miss went on to ask me,” Will you love me more or the baby?” Gosh!!I was speechless..I told her,”I love you LOTS and LOTS n the baby will be little,so,I will love her a little”.. oh- we are under strict instructions to call the baby HER and not HIM!
    I had my GTT(glucose tolerance test) two days back..I had gestational diabetes,last time and so,we had been monitoring my sugars,from the start of this pregnancy.. even,monitoring my diet.. So,far the sugars had behaved well and were well under the limits.. but on the day of the test,the fasting sugar levels were borderline…Now,I will know in two days what the levels at 1 hour and 2 hours were like..If its still border-line,then,I can still try and control it with diet.. lets see,fingers crossed.
    I will be seeing the OB and an endocrinologist on Monday… Phew.. busy days..LOL.
    I am in nesting over-drive last few days..I have been re-organizing cupboards,cleaning,re-organizing some more,sorting clothes-Even SD commented.. where are we going to keep the baby’s clothes and things?LOL!
    We haven’t even started looking at baby Gear this time.Last time..we already had bought tonnes of clothes and short-listed most of the things,we wanted to buy,by this time.I have the same list on my fridge this time,but,I can’t tick anything off it!! We went to get some towels etc,2 weeks back..and guess what we came back with..3-4 baby outfits- 2 pinks,1 blue,1 neutral. Babushka picked the pinks,naturally and threw a huge fit,when she saw the blue at the check-out counter! But,I have been knitting/crochetting.. made two pairs of baby booties and working on a vest now.Have a look-

    Will be back with our Easter weekend details and Babushka chats:D
    Till then,be good!!

  • Hi Everyone,hope you had a great Easter break.We did!and now Babushka is back in Kinder! I have so many things to write-but they have to wait:( my laptop crashed and regular posting will resume after I get it back:) hopefully soon! Drive test coming up in less than two weeks n I am freaking out! Will reply to comments once the laptop is back-I m going blind trying to read comments on my iPhone. More later,till then, be good my lovelies;)

  • The bag I was working on,is finally put together:)
    Here’s a picture of Work in Progress:

    And now the completed bag:

    And how can any of my projects be complete without them being modelled by my favorite model?

    I still need to line it,but,I am glad,I finished crochetting before Easter:)

  • Last week,I found a bunch of fresh Methi(fenugreek leaves) in our local Indian store and I can’t tell you how thrilled I was. Winters are here in the Southern Hemisphere and if Paratha is not a winter food what is:)
    My childhood was spent in a small town in Rajasthan,called Lakheri,where fresh produce was abundant.And my father’s family was well-loved and respected there,so as a result,we always,ALWAYS had more than enough fresh produce at home. Dinners in the winter months was mostly some kind of a vegetable paratha or vegetable pulav and soup.
    So,the moment I laid my eyes on that fresh green bundle,I knew,I was going to make Methi Parathas.

    Now if you have finished drooling,here’s the recipe:

    Methi Paratha

    Ingredients:
    4 cups of whole wheat flour
    1 medium bunch of fresh fenugreek leaves
    2-3 tbsp fresh yogurt
    1 green chili
    2 flakes of garlic
    2 tsp sesame seeds
    2 tsp oil
    1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    1 tsp cummin-coriander powder
    salt to taste
    warm water for kneading the dough.

    Method:
    1. Pluck and wash the fenugreek leaves.Pat dry and chop finely.
    2. Make a paste of yogurt,green chili and garlic.
    3. Take the whole wheat flour in a wide plate and add all the ingredients and knead into a firm dough.Keep it aside for 15-20 minutes.
    4. Take a lemon sized ball of dough and roll out into a flat round.
    5. Roast on a pan.Apply a little oil on each side,and toast a little more.

    Serve hot with yogurt/raita/pickle or chutney.

    Here’s my mom’s recipe for Tomato chutney. Its my ultimate favorite chutney and it gets made in no time,at all.

    You need :
    4-5 medium sized tomatoes
    2-3 flakes of garlic
    1 green chili
    2 tsp oil
    1/2 tsp cummin seeds
    Salt
    red chili powder
    a pinch of sugar.

    Method:

    Wash and cut the tomatoes in to chunk sized pieces.
    Heat oil in a pan and add cummin seeds.When the cummin seeds start splattering,add the tomatoes and let it cook on a medium flame.
    When the tomatoes start getting squishy,add chopped green chili and garlic. We don’t add the garlic and green chili before the tomatoes,so that maximum flavor is retained.
    Add salt,red chili and sugar and let it cook till the tomato turns into pulp and all the water dries out and all you are left with is tomato pulp.
    This chutney is a great accompaniment for parathas and also tastes great with toast.

    I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do and if you do try any of these,do leave me a comment and tell me,how you liked it:)