Grandma/Ammamma/Nanima comes to stay!

I am back! Back from a 5 week long vacation to the US, 5 weeks in which I visited 7 states, if you include Denver...8. Thanks to unforseen flight delays and missed connections, I visited Denver airport way too many times!!!!! Of the 9 different flights I took, only one - I repeat - only one went as planned!!!!! But anyway, that's a story in itself, which will be up on my travel blog soon.

But this post is about my 90 year old grandmother, or as I fondly call her Ammamma, who stays with my uncle and aunt in Chennai, who wanted to take a vacation to the UK, so she got dropped off at our house here in Hyderabad a few days after I left for the US. My mother who usually stays at our place and takes care of my dogs whenever we are out of town has been looking after her since. The last time Ammamma came to stay at my house was the summer of 2009,  but I was away on vacation so I really didn't get to spend any time with her. Luckily this time she is here for an extended stay, so ever since I got back from the US, I have been observing my mom look after her till said uncle and aunt get back next month. And I have learned that taking care of elderly people requires a lot of patience and compassion!!!!!

Except for some serious short term memory loss, Ammamma is in fine fettle. She has no diet restrictions and can eat anything she wants, her hearing and eyesight are as sharp as ever. She's picked up on every whispered conversation we have had!!!! But in everything else she is like a 2 year old. So my mom has been helping her with her bath, combing her hair, tucking her into bed at night....all the things a mom does to her child, my mother now does to my grandma. Its been fascinating to watch. But what really fascinates me is Ammamma's daily evening ritual of making flower garlands.

Every evening around 4.30 or so, we sit her outside and my mom brushes her hair and packs it into a neat little bun all tucked into a black net!!!!

Then my maid picks little white flowers from the tree and hands them to Ammamma one by one, who in turn with her gnarled knobbly 90 year old fingers, her face wrinkled with years of wisdom and experience, wrinkled even more in furious concentration, deftly intertwines and weaves them into a garland. She holds the tiny green stem of each flower and wraps the twine around it into a knot, then the next....and so on till she has a flower garland about 2 feet long. The whole process takes about 30 minutes....I watch riveted and my dogs nuzzle at her red nail polished toed feet while she does so. So here are pics taken from this evening's ritual to share.....!

Isn't she adorable?

I have lots to share about my trip....and some BIG NEWS! So stay tuned!

Say it with flowers!

We are all obsessed with flowers, especially now with the holiday season right upon us! Be it Dussera or Diwali, Christmas or New Year, nothing screams "FESTIVE" like a bowl of floating flowers or gorgeous blooms in a vase! Flowers, a few lit candles here and there, some munchies - and you have a party!


Now obviously we cannot be buying flowers every day..or at least I don't, much as I would like to, but if they are fresh when you buy them, they will stay for a while just by following some simple guidelines and rules. So here it is...


The Keeping Flowers Fresh 101 lesson....

*The most simple, yet least followed, tip to keep your flowers alive - change the water! I do this every day, a bit time consuming but so worth it.

* Add a small mixture of aspirin and sugar to the water, along with some type of antibacterial agent like vodka, vinegar or even a little bleach. Just a ¼ of a teaspoon is all you need.
* Drop a copper penny or any small copper object, in the vase.
* Cut the stems at a 45° angle with sharp scissors every day.
* Hold the stems underwater while you cut them.
* Remove any leaves that are submerged under the water.
* Cull any dying flowers as soon as possible.
* Keep the flowers away from any drafts (even fans!) and out of direct sunlight.
* Keep flowers away from fruit and other plants. Other flora can give off the gas, ethylene, which can cause flowers to wilt prematurely.
* Keep flowers away from appliances, like televisions and computers, which give off heat and can cause flowers to dehydrate.
* Clean your vase before you put flowers in it. Make sure you rinse out all of the soap!

*Keep them away from direct sunlight. Tulips and lots of other bulbs love being put outside in the cold air overnight, it really peps them up.

*Make sure your vases are thoroughly cleaned with bleach & water before putting your new flowers in to stop the spread of disease from old arrangement


Here are some lovely arrangements to inspire you.

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Gulmohar - The Flame tree

Come summer, and in India a common sight is the Gulmohur tree. I had all along thought it was called the Flame of the Forest, but much to my surprise, some googling revealed I was wrong. Its botanical name is Delonix Regia and it is the Flame Tree! (On a side note, the Flame of the Forest also had red flowers, but they are shaped quite differently). Every summer the dry landscape of India is brightened by the appearance of the gorgeous red flowers that cover the trees exuberantly. Often grown as an ornamental tree and known for its fern like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers, the tree is also called Flamboyant. The species was previously placed in a genus Poinciana, named for Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy who is credited with introducing the plant to the Americas.

The street I live on is lined with these beautiful trees and sadly I do not have one in my garden. We had plenty of these in our yard and on the street we played on when I was growing up, and every time I smell the flower, the fragrance takes me back to my childhood days. We do now have a tree right outside our house, and very often after a windstorm or heavy rain, our front yard is littered with the seed pods, which our dogs love, for the rattly sound they make as well as for their heavenly chewy texture! Yesterday some people came by to cut many branches off the trees because they were interfering with the power lines, so I quickly ran outside, and gathered up as many branches with flowers as I could. So now my home is full of these lovely flowers.

Here is some interesting trivia on this tree:

In Vietnam, this tree is called "Phượng vỹ", or phoenix's tail, and is a popular urban tree. Its flowering season is April - May, which coincides with the end of the school year in Vietnam. Because of this timing, the flower of Poinciana is sometimes called the "flower of pupil", and often generates strong emotions among graduating high school pupils, as the Poinciana bloom when they are about to leave their school and their childhood behind.

The seed pods of the Royal Poincianas are used in the Caribbean as a percussion instrument known as the shak-shak or maraca.

The Poinciana is also the national flower of St. Kitts and Nevis

Enjoy these lovely pictures of the Gulmohar tree.

Pretty in Pink!

The weather's too hot, my grey cells are fried

I've run out of ideas, I've tried and I've tried

To come up with something that's exciting to post

But what can I do if my brain's turned to toast?

45 degrees Celsius and my head's in a fog

But I am so addicted, I just have to blog

So I'm posting a picture of pretty pink flowers

While hoping and praying and waiting for showers

To signal the end of this infernal heat

Till then feast your eyes on this delectable treat!

Summer beauties

While the rest of us in India are sweating and wilting under the sweltering heat of summer and scuttling indoors to the cool of the air conditioners, these babies are thriving in the 100 plus degree temperatures and reaching for the sun. They are a pretty burst of color in the otherwise drying landscape of the garden.

The White Lotus

Adenium/Desert Rose

The fragrant Jasmine

Bougainvillea

Red Anthurium

Rangoon Creeper